Special Infected
by Guenwyvar
Summary: What if Lee survived being bitten? What if Kenny never ended up alone? After the events in Savannah, Lee, Kenny, and Clementine end up in a new city where they quickly discover a new form of walking dead they had never seen before. Faster, more lethal, and way more dangerous, will they survive long enough to discover the secrets behind the Special Infected?
1. Chapter 1

Special Infected

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead or any of it's characters.

Author's Note: Okay, so this is my first Walking Dead story. I hope you guys like it. First off, this starts just after Lee and Clementine leave the Marsh House at the end of season one and pretty much follows my own story line from there. You will see some familiar scenes and dialogue from season two though. Also, this is based on my choices in season one, and I pretty much agreed with Kenny almost all of the time, so he will be like Lee's best friend in this story. Also, this will contain some aspects from two other zombie games, Left 4 Dead and Dying Light. For those of you who have played those games, you will know them when you see them. But it`s not necessary to have played those games to understand the story.

Chapter 1 – Escape from the Marsh House

Lee and Clementine left the Marsh House and walked out onto the walker-infested street. They stopped for a moment as they watched walkers shambling to and fro mindlessly searching for their next meal.

Lee could feel the small shivers that racked the small frame next to him and instinctively held her a little tighter. He couldn't blame her for being scared. They were about to walk through a horde of walkers. He was a little scared too. He hoped his theory about covering themselves in walker guts would mask their scent was correct and that's the reason that walker didn't attack him back at the Marsh House. Otherwise, he was walking them straight to their deaths.

Lee took a deep breath and began to walk through the herd with Clementine at his side. The walkers didn't even seem to notice they were there and the plan seemed to be working for which Lee was grateful. They walked very slowly to avoid attracting any unwanted attention, stopping every so often to avoid walking into any of them.

Everything was going fine at first until Clementine stopped in her tracks and stared at something across the street. Lee looked back at her, and the look on her face was of pure horror. He followed her gaze to a couple of walkers hanging out by a lamp post. He recognized them immediately from the family photo he had seen in Clementine's house. They were her parents. He felt horrible that she had to see her parents like that, but he would have to console her later. Right now, they had to keep moving.

"Clementine, honey. Don't look. We have to keep going," Lee said as he put his arm around her and nudged her forward. With a small whimper, she closed her eyes and pressed her face against his side and they continued walking.

They must have walked past hundreds of walkers, their white soulless eyes staring through them as if they weren't even there, until finally the herd started to thin out. As the number of walkers dwindled to nothing but a few stragglers here and there, Lee finally felt relaxed enough to walk normally and release his tight hold on Clementine somewhat. Although he noticed, she didn't relax her hold on him one bit. She hadn't even opened her eyes at all since seeing her parents, and Lee sincerely hoped that seeing her parents as walkers hadn't scarred the little girl for life. Even though she had seen a lot of truly horrible things since this whole mess started, no child should see their parents as flesh-eating zombies.

Lee sighed as he took stock of their surroundings trying to figure out where exactly they were in the city. He realized that they were pretty close to the outskirts of the city and that the train tracks weren't far away. He sighed in relief that they didn't have to go far as he led the way to the tracks where he had told Christa and Omid to meet them. Hopefully they were already there waiting. As they were walking, Clementine finally broke the silence between them.

"Lee?" she said softly.

"Yeah, Clem?"

"I-I saw my parents. They're dead."

Lee closed his eyes briefly and sighed sadly as he knelt down to her level. "Come here, sweet pea," he said as he pulled her into a tender hug.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly and laid her head on his chest. "It's so horrible," she cried tremulously.

"I know, Clem, and I'm sorry you had to see that." He rubbed her back soothingly for a few seconds before pulling away gently to look her in the eye. "But you still have me, and I'm going to take good care of you."

"You promise?"

Lee opened his mouth to answer, but closed it immediately as he remembered the bite on his arm. He lowered his eyes as he stood up straight and turned away from her. He looked at the bite on his wrist as he realized that he actually felt…good. The numbness that had been spreading throughout his arm had started to recede as he was entering the Marsh House. He hadn't noticed it at the time because he was so focused on getting Clementine back, but now he realized that the numbness was completely gone. The burning pain was gone as well and so was the dizziness. He actually felt better now than he had in days. He took a closer look at the bite. There was no decaying flesh, no sign that there was any sort of infection at all. In fact, it looked pretty healthy all things considered. It looked like it even might be starting to heal. But how was that possible? He should be dead or dying right now so how was it that he was up and walking around with no ill effects? Could it be that…? Could he be immune?

He shook his head. No, that was just wishful thinking. That was impossible, wasn't it? No one could be immune. Of course, what did he know? What do any of them know about what was really going on, and what was causing the dead to walk. Maybe it was possible that someone could be immune to a walker bite. He ran his hand through his hair. It would be amazing if he really was immune, but he couldn't be happy just yet, not until he knew for sure. And he couldn't tell Clementine yet either, not until he knew whether he was going to live or die. He didn't want to upset her any more than she already was. If he started feeling weak and dizzy again, then he would tell her because then he would know.

"Lee, are you ok?" Clementine asked worriedly as he had been silent for quite some time.

Lee pasted a smile on his face as he turned back toward her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going."

They continued walking for a while longer, passing the occasional walker along the way, until finally they caught sight of the train. Luckily there were no walkers hanging around the train so it was a safe place to stop and rest. Unfortunately, Christa and Omid were nowhere to be seen.

Lee frowned as he peered inside the train car. _Where could they be? They should have been here by now,_ he thought.

"Lee, what are we doing here?" Clementine asked.

"I told Christa and Omid to meet us here, but it doesn't look like they're here yet."

"Oh," Clementine replied. "But what about Kenny?"

Lee sighed and lowered his head as he remembered that they had lost Kenny to a building full of walkers after he managed to save Christa. He still couldn't believe that he was gone. Kenny was his best friend. Sure, he could be tough to get along with and he argued with almost everyone, but Lee agreed with him most of the time. Kenny had been a good guy who was just trying to look out for his family and the people he cared about. He was really going to miss him.

"Clem, sweetie," Lee began as he turned to face the little girl. "Kenny's gone."

"W-what?" she stuttered.

"He got stuck in a building full of walkers and we couldn't reach him. I couldn't reach him."

"Lee, no," she whimpered as tears finally began to fall from her eyes.

Lee hugged her once again as she began cry. He was wondering when the tears would come. He guessed losing Kenny had been the last straw, the last horrible event that broke open the flood gates so to speak.

"First my parents, now Kenny!" Clementine cried.

"I know, sweet pea. I'm sorry. I'll miss him too," Lee said comfortingly.

"It's all my fault! It's all my fault!"

Lee gently broke the hug and put his hands on her shoulders. "Clementine, this is not your fault," he told her.

"But it happened while you were trying to rescue me. If I hadn't…"

"Clementine, listen to me," Lee said sternly, "It just happened. Sometimes bad things happen. In fact, nowadays pretty horrible things happen, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. The fact that we were on our way to rescue you when it happened doesn't make it your fault."

"But it does!" Clementine cried, shaking her head vehemently. She refused to be comforted when she knew without a doubt that it really was her fault. "After you fell asleep on the couch, the man on my walkie talked to me again. He told me he had my parents. He told me that if I went outside, I could see them. But he was lying, and then he grabbed me. I know I shouldn't have gone out there, but I wanted to see my parents so bad, and I was mad at you because you said we couldn't look for them."

"Aw, Clem," Lee sighed as he pulled her close once again and let her cry on his shoulder. Now he knew why she seemed more broken up about losing Kenny than losing her parents. She felt guilty because she thought it was her fault Kenny had died. "Listen, sweet pea, this is not your fault. It's his. He lied to you to get you out in the open so he could grab you. He was just a crazy guy who saw you as a means to make up for his past mistakes." _And a way to get back at me,_ he added silently, but she didn't need to know about that. He felt her nod against his shoulder, and he hoped she was finally starting to understand what he was trying to say.

"Lee?"

Lee whipped his head around toward the familiar voice. His eyes widened in shock as he slowly stood up to his full height.

"Kenny?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Meeting a New Friend

Several Hours Earlier

Kenny backed away as several walkers lumbered toward him. He fired his gun several times, killing a few of them, but there were more walkers than he had ammo. When he ran out of bullets, he turned the gun around in his hand and started hitting them in the head with butt of his gun. He continued to back up, hitting any walker that came near him, until finally he backed into a wall, and there was no place else to go.

There were still a bunch more walkers closing in on him, and he knew there was no way he was going to be able to kill them all with just the butt of his weapon. He sighed, resigned to the fact that he was not going to make it out this alive. He watched as the walkers came closer and closer, and just as one was about to take a bite out of him, it was suddenly struck in the left temple with a small throwing knife. He watched the walker fall to the ground in shock before turning to follow the knife's trajectory.

A woman was standing not too far from him. She pulled out two more throwing knives from her belt and threw them at the same time, hitting two walkers in the forehead. She then pulled out two daggers from sheaths attached to the outside of her thighs. She ran forward, stabbed one walker on top of the head with one dagger, then swung the other dagger around and hit another walker in the side of the head. After those two were down, she ran to Kenny and handed him one of her daggers.

"Here, take this. Let's go," she said.

Kenny, too stunned by her sudden appearance, just stood there staring at her for a couple of seconds.

"Come on! We gotta go!" she said urgently.

He shook himself from his stupor and grabbed the weapon from her. Both of them then made a break for the open door across the room, killing walkers as they went. When they made it out onto the street, they stopped in their tracks as they encountered more of the walking dead coming at them.

"Shit," the woman said as she backed up a little.

Kenny looked around, searching for an escape route and spotted a chain link fence not far that they could easily hop over. "This way!" he shouted as he ran with the woman close behind.

He easily climbed up the fence and then jumped over the top, landing on his feet on the other side. He turned around to make sure his rescuer made it over safely as well. Once she joined him on the other side, they continued running. They made a quick left turn and ran down an alleyway. They came to an abrupt halt however, when they came to the mouth of the alley and saw another group of walkers blocking their escape.

"Give me a fucking break!" Kenny shouted angrily. "They're all over."

"Alright, my turn," the woman said. She ran back down the alley a few feet until she came to a side entrance to one of the buildings. She kicked the door open, and they both ran in and slammed the door shut behind them.

Kenny took a look around. It looked like they were in some sort of office. There were cubicles lined in rows all throughout the huge space. Some of the cubicle walls were knocked down. There were computers, most either smashed or broken, on the desks or on the floor, and office equipment littered the floor. There was blood smeared everywhere and there were a few dead bodies lying about. Luckily, none of them were moving.

"Alright. Now what?" Kenny asked.

"Come on," she said as she started running straight ahead.

They ran through the building to the opposite side and found an open window that they could crawl through. There were no walkers on this side of the building so they were able to climb out without any trouble. They then continued their trek through the city, and they didn't stop running until they were out of the city and safely hidden amongst some trees.

Kenny leaned on his knees to catch his breath and was finally able to take a good look at his rescuer now that they weren't running for their lives. She was kind of cute with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She had milk white skin and pale blue eyes. She wore baggy blue jeans, black gym shoes, a purple tank top and black leather jacket. She also wore a belt containing several more of those small throwing knives and a black leather backpack. She turned toward him, and he quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to be caught staring.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked angrily, ignoring her question.

Her brow furrowed in irritation. "Um, I think I'm the one that just saved your ass," she retorted.

"Well, who the hell asked you to?" he shot back.

"Hey!" she yelled as she stalked toward him angrily. She pulled out one of her throwing knives and held it in front of his face. "You see this? These are very hard to come by these days. I usually don't use them unless I absolutely have to or I know I can get them back. I just lost three of these saving your ass. I think you should show me a little gratitude."

Kenny opened his mouth to argue but closed it again without a word, suddenly feeling deflated. Why the hell was getting all pissed off at this woman? He sighed. He knew why. Because deep down, a part of him had wanted to die in that building. He had resigned himself to that fate. He knew that that was what was going to happen when he had jumped down to help Christa get out. Of course, the main reason he had jumped down there was to save Christa because it had been his fault that she was even there. She had gone down there to get the walkie-talkie he had accidentally made Lee drop down there when he bumped into him. But at that moment, he had thought, _ok, I'm going to save Christa and make things right, and then it'll all be over._

After he lost Katjaa and Duck, he found it so hard to keep going sometimes, and he had justified his actions at the time by telling himself that it wasn't suicide if he went down fighting. But he was just fooling himself. He was a fucking hypocrite. Like he had told the others before, you don't just give up because it's hard. You stick it out and you protect the ones that you love. He should have listened to his own advice. Well, he was going to now. He swore to himself then and there, that he was going to fight as hard as he could to stay alive for his friends and for Clementine.

He looked back at the woman who had turned away from him and was surveying the area, but she was clearly still pissed off. He sighed. "Look, um, I'm sorry, alright. I don't know why I got so angry. I just…I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything at first. Then she turned toward him and with a small chuckle, she replied, "No problem. You were just being a macho asshole, right?"

Kenny smirked at that. "Yeah, you could say that."

She smiled. "I'm Cassie, by the way."

"Kenny."

"Nice to meet you, Kenny."

"Thank you, by the way, for saving me back there. What were you doing there anyway?" Kenny asked curiously.

She shrugged. "You looked like you needed help." She saw Kenny's frown of disbelief and sighed. "Alright, fine. I was scavenging in the area and heard the gunshots. Decided to check it out."

Kenny stared at her a moment more before he nodded and turned back toward the city. He had to get back to Lee, Christa, and Omid. He had to make sure they got Clementine back, but the question was how? It wasn't exactly easy getting out of there. There seemed to be thousands more dead roaming the streets than there was when they arrived in Savannah. How was he supposed to get to the Marsh House without getting swarmed?

"I hope you're not thinking about going back into the city," Cassie said, interrupting his thoughts.

"So, what if I am?" Kenny asked without turning around.

"Are you crazy? The city is crawling with walkers. It would be suicide."

"Hey, my friends are back there. I have to find them."

"I understand that, but you go walking back there and you're just going to get yourself killed."

Kenny spun around angrily. "Hey, I can take care of myself. I don't need you!"

"Oh yeah. You were doing a really good job of taking care of yourself back at that building," Cassie said sarcastically as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Kenny opened his mouth but immediately shut it with a frustrated sigh as he realized that she was right, and he hated that. He hated being wrong. So instead of arguing further, he turned away from her and looked at the city. His eyes scanned the buildings searching for the Marsh House where he knew Lee and the others were heading.

"You don't understand. I have to get back to them. I have to get back to Lee before…" His words trailed off as he thought about Lee and the bite on his arm. Lee was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it. The thought killed him. He had lost so much since this whole thing began, first Katjaa, then Duck, and now Lee. Lee was his best friend. He always had Kenny's back. He took care of Duck when he was bitten, and Kenny would never forget him for that. And Lee always supported him every step of the way even when all everyone else seemed to do was argue with him, or maybe he was the one arguing. He wasn't blind. He knew he was argumentative. He always had been, but it had gotten worse since he lost his family. He couldn't help it. He just felt the need to be in control, and he needed that now more than ever.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Cassie standing next to him with a look of concern.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied as he shook those depressing thoughts from his mind. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because I've been talking to you for several minutes, but you don't seem to be listening."

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"You were saying you had to get to Lee before…?"

Kenny sighed, wondering if he should tell the truth. He didn't even know this woman. He wasn't sure he should tell her anything other than good-bye. Then again, she did save his life, and nothing builds trust like saving someone's life. He looked into her brilliant blue eyes and suddenly felt like he could trust her with anything. He blinked. _Where did that come?_ He thought. _I'm not the trusting type. Although, she is kind of cute._ He shook his head. He wasn't ready to go down that road just yet, but he still felt like he could trust her.

"Lee's my best friend," Kenny began, swallowing the lump in his throat. "He was bitten. I just…I just want to see him one last time before he turns. I have to make sure he gets Clementine back so he could see her and say good-bye to her."

Cassie looked at him, sympathy and understanding shining in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Kenny. I know how that feels." After a moment of silence, she asked, "Who's Clementine?"

Kenny smiled slightly at the thought of the little girl with the golden eyes who had been a good friend to his son. He remembered back at the motor inn whenever he was on watch on top of the RV, she would always wave at him enthusiastically. She would show him the drawings that she did that day, and he had even read her stories sometimes late at night when Lee was busy with other duties. He had laughed hysterically when he found out she had put a bug on Duck's pillow which made him jump out of bed in surprise. They just had to get her back.

"She's an eight-year-old girl," Kenny replied. "Lee found her hiding in a tree house when all this began. Her parents were gone. She was all alone. He's been taking care of her ever since. She's like a daughter to him, and some asshole kidnapped her right under our noses."

"Oh my god!" Cassie exclaimed, horrified. "That's horrible."

"We were on our way to get her back when I got separated from the others," Kenny continued.

"You mean when you ended up in that deathtrap."

Kenny nodded. "I have to get back to them. They probably think I'm dead now."

"Ok," Cassie said thoughtfully. "Say that's the case. Then they would continue on, right? So where were you going?"

"The Marsh House. That's where he took her."

"The Marsh House, great," Cassie sighed. "That's right in the middle of everything. That place is crawling with walkers. There's no way we can get there before your friends do."

"I ain't leaving them."

"I'm not suggesting that. Ok, let's say they get her back, where would they go afterwards?"

"Fuck if I know," Kenny said in frustration, turning away from her.

"Oh c'mon. You have to have some idea of where they would go. What were you doing here in the first place?"

"We came here looking for a boat," Kenny replied.

"A boat," Cassie said somewhat skeptically.

"Yes, a boat," Kenny snapped, not liking the tone of her voice. Why did everyone think this wasn't a good plan?

"And what were you planning on doing with that?" she asked with a small laugh.

Kenny could feel his anger boiling inside at her snarky attitude. He could already tell that they were going to have a lot of arguments in their future. "What the fuck do you think we were going to do with it? Fly? We were going out onto the water. In case you haven't noticed, the main land is pretty much fucked."

Cassie scoffed, shaking her head. "In case you haven't noticed, everywhere is pretty much fucked. You do know that we're all going to become one of those things no matter how we die, right?"

Kenny lowered his eyes. "Yeah," he replied, remembering when they had brought a man into the motor inn who had his leg chopped off to free him from a bear trap. He had died from blood loss and then came back and attacked Katjaa. He shook that thought away. Thinking about his family still hurt tremendously.

"Yeah, that means that it's not just here. It's everywhere. Do you even know where you're going?"

"Man, I don't know. I just wanted to get someplace safe. I figured once we got a boat I'd just improvise or something."

"Improvise!" Cassie cried in disbelief. "That's not a plan. That's what you do when a plan fails. Do you even know how far you're going or how long it'll take to get there?"

Kenny opened his mouth to answer, but then he realized he had no answers. He had been so focused on finding a boat he hadn't thought about what they were going to do with it once they had it. He realized now that maybe it hadn't been such a great idea after all, but that just made him angrier because he hated being wrong.

"Hey! Get off my damn back! The plan was sound at the time!" Kenny yelled angrily, getting into her face.

Cassie, however, wasn't showing any signs of backing down. She wasn't afraid of him. She merely crossed her arms and stood her ground. She could tell he was a stubborn one, but she was going to break through that stubbornness, which she hoped would help him in the long run. She could tell that deep down he was really a good guy.

"'At the time' being the operative words. It doesn't seem so sound now, does it? Now that I've pointed out the flaws in your little plan."

Kenny turned away and sighed. "It doesn't matter now. The one working boat we could find was stolen from us. It's a moot point now."

"Ah, but you admit that it was a bad plan to begin with," Cassie went on, showing that she could be just as stubborn as he could.

"Look, what do you want from me?" he snapped as he turned around.

"I want you to admit that you were wrong," she replied. "It's not the end of the world you know. Well, technically, it is with the whole zombie apocalypse and everything, and…you know…well…sorry, bad choice of words."

Kenny chuckled slightly at the way she stumbled over her words.

"Are you laughing at me?" she asked, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"Oh no, not at all," he lied as he chuckled some more.

Cassie laughed as well, feeling somewhat satisfied that she had actually made the man laugh for the first time since they met. It was nice. She hoped they could do it more often.

"Anyway," Cassie said, trying to get things back on track. "Back to the matter at hand. Where do you think your friends would go once they got Clementine back?"

Kenny became serious again as he thought about the question. There were two possibilities. There was the mansion where they had been staying since they got to Savannah and there was the train they had used to get to Savannah. The mansion was closer. However, that place wasn't exactly safe anymore. It had been overrun with walkers the last time they were there. So much so, in fact, that they had had to bust through a wall in the attic in order to get out. So more than likely the train was their best bet. Even though it was further away on the outskirts of town, it seemed like it would be a safer place to meet.

"The train," Kenny said.

"What?"

"We got here on a train. If they'd go anywhere, it'd be there."

"Ok," Cassie said with a nod. "The tracks are on the outskirts of the city. We can get there from here."

They started walking through the trees towards where the train tracks were. They walked in silence at first until Kenny realized he still had the knife she gave him.

"Um, here," he said, handing her the knife. "Thanks for the use of it."

Cassie looked at him and then at the knife. "Keep it."

"What?"

"Keep it. It's a good weapon to have. You can give it back to me when you find something better. Here, I'll even give you the sheath for it." She unstrapped the empty sheath from her left thigh and handed it to him.

Kenny smiled. "Thanks," he said gratefully as he put the knife in the sheath and hooked it to his belt. Truthfully, he didn't want to be without a weapon. He still had his gun, but it had no bullets, which did him no good.

As they were walking, Cassie looked at the man walking beside her. "So," she said as she returned her gaze to the path ahead, "who was it?"

Kenny looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You lost someone. I can see it in your eyes, the way you act. It had to have been someone pretty close to you, and I'm guessing it was probably pretty recent. I was just wondering who it was that you lost."

Kenny looked away from her, not wanting her to see the profound sadness in his eyes. He didn't want to talk about the loss of his family. It hurt too much. He just couldn't do it, not now, maybe not ever.

Cassie seemed to sense his reluctance. "I'm sorry. It's hard, I know. Believe me, I know. But you might feel better if you talk about it." He remained silent, so she went on. "Ok, I understand. You don't want to talk, especially with someone you just met, right? Well, I'll tell you what, I'll tell you my tale of woe, and then you tell me yours when you're ready."

Kenny glanced at her, trying to figure her out. She was willing to tell him about her past when she barely even knew him, but why? What was her angle? Did she really trust him enough to share intimate details of her life, or did she just want to gain his trust so she could betray him later? There was a lot of that going around, but he was actually leaning more toward the former. He didn't think she would hurt him or anyone else. He didn't know what it was, but he liked her. He decided he would listen to her tale, but that didn't mean he agreed to her proposal.

Cassie, however, continued on as if he had agreed. "So, I guess my sad tale begins, ironically, before the end of the world. I had a husband, his name was Patrick. We had been married for a couple of years when we decided we wanted to raise a family. We tried for several months before I finally got pregnant. You should have seen Patrick when he found out I was pregnant. It was like he was on top of the world, he was so happy." She had a whimsical smile on her face as she spoke, remembering happier times, but that smile quickly disappeared as she continued her story.

"Then one day, we were on our way back home from visiting my sister. I was about 4 months along then. Patrick was driving, and it seemed like any other day. But then this truck ran a red light and smashed into our car. I didn't know what exactly happened at first. All I really remember is getting jostled around, severe pain, the sound of screeching metal and glass breaking, then nothing. The truck had hit on my side. I was hurt pretty badly, and when I woke up later at the hospital, they told me I had lost the baby." She paused as she took a hitched breath, blinking several times to keep the tears at bay.

"Things just sort of fell apart after that. Patrick blamed himself for what happened even though there was nothing he could have done. I tried to tell him that several times, but he wouldn't listen. He thought that because he was the one driving it was his fault. We got into a lot of arguments, and our relationship just sort of deteriorated. Eventually we just didn't talk at all."

Kenny gave her a sympathetic look. He knew what it was like to lose a child, but he couldn't imagine what it would have been like if he had lost Duck before he had even been born. "I'm sorry, Cassie."

She gave him a watery smile. "Thanks. The weird thing is, the apocalypse actually brought us closer together. When the dead started walking around eating people, we realized that we were being stupid. What happened, happened, and there was nothing either one of us could have done to stop it. We realized that all we had were each other. So, we started working together. We helped each other survive, so in a weird way, the end of the world gave me my husband back. Of course, it also took him away from me. About a month ago, he…he got bit. It was so stupid. We were in this house looking for supplies, and this walker came out of nowhere and just took a bite out of his arm. We both knew what that meant. He, uh, he asked me to take care of him. He didn't want to become one of those things, and I didn't want him to become one of those things. So, I shot him. I fell apart after that. I almost didn't want to go on, but then I realized that that's not what he would have wanted. He would have wanted me keep going, keep fighting. So that's what I did, and that's what I'm going to continue to do."

Kenny was at a loss for words. Her story was almost as bad as his. He admired her having the strength to do what her husband had asked her to do. He couldn't do it with Duck, but then, like Lee said, no parent should have to shoot their own child. Of course, no one should have to shoot their spouse either, but it's somehow harder when it's your kid.

"I…" Kenny stuttered. "I don't know what to say."

Cassie smiled slightly. "It's ok. You don't have to say anything."

"So, you've been alone since then?"

She nodded. "Haven't really met a group I was willing to stay with or that I trusted."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Reunion at the Train

A little while later, they could finally see the train tracks. Kenny almost felt elated as he picked up his pace a little bit. He hoped to god that they were at the train. If they weren't there, he didn't have any idea where to look next. When he finally reached the tracks, he looked both ways and spotted the train to his right. His heart skipped a beat when he saw them, Lee crouched down and hugging Clementine close. He smiled in relief. Lee had gotten her back. _Way to go, Lee,_ he thought. But where were Christa and Omid? Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Lee?" he called.

Lee's head snapped towards him, and his eyes widened as he stood up straight. "Kenny?" he said in disbelief.

"Kenny!" Clementine cried joyfully as she took off running towards him.

Kenny's smile widened as he crouched down to receive the little girl. She practically jumped into his arms as she wrapped her little arms around his neck tightly.

"Hey, Clem. I'm glad you're alright. We were worried about you," Kenny said.

"I'm sorry," Clementine said as she pulled away from him.

"Hey, it's ok," he said reassuringly. Then he noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks. "Hey, what's with the tears?" he asked as he brushed a tear away with his knuckle.

"L-Lee said you were dead."

"Aw, darlin'. It'll take more than a bunch of walkers to finish off old Kenny."

Clementine smiled happily, and it warmed Kenny's heart to see the child so happy. Happiness like that was steadily becoming a rare thing nowadays. He noticed Lee approaching, and he stood up to face him.

Lee just stared at him for a few seconds. He couldn't believe that his best friend was standing there in front of him alive and unharmed. At first, he thought it was just a dream, that he was seeing things. But then Clementine ran up to him and hugged him, and Lee realized that he really was real. He smiled, and he just couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms around Kenny tightly, not caring that it might be awkward for the other man. He was just so damn glad that he was ok.

Kenny was a bit surprised that Lee hugged him and a little uncomfortable, but he allowed it, not wanting to ruin Lee's happiness. Luckily, the hug didn't last long as Lee pushed away, his hands remaining on Kenny's shoulders.

"Man, it's great to see you!" Lee exclaimed happily, patting his shoulders before giving him a light shove.

"Great to see you too, pal. I guess you missed me, huh?" Kenny said with a laugh.

"Yeah, a little. How the hell did you get out of there?"

"Oh, I owe it all to this little lady right here," Kenny replied, looking back at Cassie, who until now had remained in the background. "Lee, Clementine, I want you two to meet Cassie. She's the one who saved my ass back there."

Cassie smiled and gave the two a little wave. "Hi, nice to meet you."

"Hi. Thanks for saving Kenny," Clementine said.

Cassie smiled down at the little girl. "You're welcome, little one."

"Well, I guess we owe you a debt of gratitude," Lee said.

"It was no problem. I just happened to be in the area."

"Are you alone?" Lee asked.

"For the moment, yes," Cassie replied.

"Why don't you come with us?" Clementine asked innocently.

Lee looked at her, thinking about the suggestion. Their group seemed to be getting smaller by the minute, and if Christa and Omid didn't show up at some point, it would just be the three of them. They could use some more people. Even though they didn't really know her, she did save Kenny, and that made her ok in Lee's book.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Lee agreed.

"Hell, I don't have a problem with it," Kenny said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Cassie looked at the three of them as she seemed to ponder the idea. "Maybe. I'll think about it. I don't really know you guys, you know."

Kenny smirked. _Smart girl,_ he thought. But he had a feeling that she was going to stay with them. The smile vanished, however, as he remembered Lee's situation. He looked at the man and wondered how he was even standing right now.

"So, uh, Lee, how are you…doing?" he asked, not wanting to just come right out and ask about the bite. He wasn't sure if he told Clementine about it yet, but by the look on his face, he hadn't.

"Uh, fine," Lee replied, scratching the back of his neck. He was grateful to Kenny for not being more specific as he looked down at Clementine who looked at him curiously. "Clem, sweetie, why don't you get to know Cassie a little bit while I have a talk with Kenny?"

"Ok," Clementine said with a nod.

Lee looked at Kenny and motioned with his head for him to follow as he walked away from Clementine and Cassie. After making sure they were out of earshot, Lee turned to Kenny with a nod, indicating it was safe to talk now.

"Ok, how are you really?" Kenny asked.

"Truthfully, I actually feel fine."

"What? How is that possible?" Kenny asked, confused.

"Man, I don't know," Lee said with a shrug, "All I know is, the dizziness is gone, the pain's gone, the numbness is gone, and I actually haven't felt this good in a long time."

Kenny shook his head. "That don't make a lick of sense. You should be at death's door right now."

"I don't know what to tell you, Ken," Lee said, throwing his hands up in the air. "Even the bite doesn't hurt anymore." He paused. "I was thinking that…maybe I'm immune."

"Is that even possible?"

"Hell, man, I don't know. I mean what do we even know about what's going on? Maybe it is possible."

Kenny sighed as he closed his eyes and lowered his head in sadness. "You know, when Duck was bit and all I kept saying was he's fine, he's fine, he's going to be fine, I kept thinking, hoping, that maybe he would be fine. Maybe he wouldn't turn. Maybe he was different from everyone else. But I was just fooling myself. I know that now."

Lee lowered his eyes. He couldn't imagine the pain Kenny must be going through. He basically just lost everything he ever knew in a matter of minutes. "Kenny, I'm…" he began.

Kenny took a deep breath and turned to look at Lee. "But if there's a chance that you are immune…then that's the best fuckin' news I've heard all day."

Lee smiled. "Thanks, Kenny."

"Besides, if any of us are going to be immune, I'm glad it's you. You're still the smartest son of bitch I know. Clementine needs you, and so do I."

"I think we all need each other," Lee said.

Kenny nodded in agreement. "But I suppose we should make sure," he said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, I suppose we should."

Kenny looked upwards and noticed it was starting to get dark. "It's going to be dark soon. We'll see how you're feeling in the morning. If you're still you, then we'll know."

Lee and Kenny turned toward Cassie and Clementine, who were laughing together. It made both men smile.

"Well, it looks like they hit it off," Lee said.

"Yeah, looks like."

"So, what do you think of Cassie? Do you think she'll make a good asset to the group if she decides to stick around?" Lee asked.

"Hell yeah. She's strong. You should have seen the way she handled herself back there. It was amazing. She was amazing. She's got some real skill with those knives of hers."

Lee looked at Kenny as he talked about Cassie. If he didn't know better he could have sworn that Kenny might have a thing for the new girl, but maybe it was just his imagination. After all, he knew how much Katjaa's death still affected his old friend. But who knows? Perhaps down the road there just might be something there between them.

By this time, Cassie and Clementine had gotten over their fit of laughter and had made their way over to the two men.

"Hey Clementine. You enjoying your time with Cassie?" Lee asked.

"Yeah. She's nice, and funny too," Clementine replied with a smile.

"I'm glad."

"So, what's the plan?" Cassie asked.

"Well, it's getting dark. I say we stay here for the night. If we close the doors on that train car, it should be safe for the night," Kenny suggested.

"Good idea. Besides, Christa and Omid could still show up," Lee agreed.

Kenny's brow furrowed as he looked at Lee. "Hey, yeah. Where the hell are they?" he asked, just now remembering that the couple was missing.

"I don't know," Lee said with a shrug. "We got separated on our way to the Marsh House. I told them to meet me here by the train. They should have been here by now."

"Well, I don't mind staying here tonight. I don't really want to go traipsing around in the dark," Cassie said.

"I guess it's settled then," Lee said as he led Clementine toward the train.

Kenny started to follow when he felt Cassie tug gently on his arm. He looked at her questioningly. "What?" he asked.

"You told me Lee was bit, but he looks fine to me," Cassie said as she glanced at the man in question who was helping Clementine into the train car.

"Yeah, I know," Kenny said with a sigh as he put his hands on his hips. "That's what we were talking about earlier. Apparently, all of his symptoms just went away. All the pain, the numbness, it's all gone. He says he feels fine now."

Cassie's brow furrowed in disbelief. "What? I've never heard of that happening. I've seen people get bit. It doesn't just go away."

"Yeah, I know. I've seen it too," Kenny snapped. He lowered his head in sadness as he remembered how Duck slowly deteriorated after he was bit. He ran a hand over his face with a sigh. He wasn't going to think about that.

Cassie noticed his sadness and decided not to pry. "Ok, well, are you sure he's telling you the truth? I've seen people lie about this kind of thing simply because they don't want to die just yet. No offence, but I don't relish the idea of being cooped up in a train car with a man who may turn at any moment."

"Hey, Lee's never lied to me. If he says he feels fine then I believe him. Besides, if he was going to turn, it would have happened already. He was bitten hours ago."

"Some people take longer to turn than others."

"Just what are you suggesting? That we leave him out here all night by himself?" Kenny asked, getting angry now. He didn't like where this conversation was going. He wasn't about to do that to Lee, not now, not after everything he had done for Kenny and his family. Lee deserved better than that.

"Well, no…" she began.

"Look," Kenny interrupted, "he's going to be fine, and I'm going to be keeping an eye on him the entire night. If you don't like it, then you can stay out here all night by yourself." With that said, he stalked off toward the train car where Lee and Clementine were waiting.

Lee noticed the angry expression on Kenny's face as he approached. "Everything ok?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Kenny replied as he climbed into the train car.

Lee nodded even though he got the feeling that Kenny and Cassie had been arguing about something, but he decided to just let it go. "I found this amongst Chuck's belongings," he said as he pulled out an old kerosene lamp. He turned the small knob in the front and the lamp emitted a faint glow. "It still works."

"Well good. At least we won't be in total darkness tonight," Kenny said.

A few minutes later, Cassie was at the train car door looking in at the three. She seemed a bit uncertain.

Kenny looked at her. "Well, are you coming in or not?"

She sighed. "You better be right about this," she muttered to Kenny as she climbed inside.

Kenny just rolled his eyes as he closed the door behind her while Lee closed the door on the other side. With the lamp sitting on the floor in the middle, they all sat around it like a campfire. For several minutes, they sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Cassie glanced behind her and noticed a mattress and some personal items. It looked like someone had been living there at one time. Then she spotted an acoustic guitar. She smiled as she picked it up.

"What do ya know? I haven't seen one of these in quite some time," she said as she expertly strummed the guitar strings to see if it was in tune.

"It was Chuck's," Lee said.

"Chuck?" she asked curiously.

"He was a member of our group for a short while. He died not long after we got to Savannah."

"Oh. Sorry," Cassie said, feeling guilty for asking.

"Can you play something?" Clementine asked innocently.

Cassie looked at the little girl and smiled. Now how could she say no to that? "Well, ok, but I might be a little rusty."

She flexed her fingers a few times before she began to play a soft and rhythmic melody. Her fingers moved across the strings like she'd been doing it her whole life, and then she began to sing, her voice low and soft.

"Farewell, my love, farewell

I'll see you come tomorrow

Don't cry, my love, don't cry

I'll see you come tomorrow

Sleep baby sleep

Drink in the moonlight

Dream baby dream

Fly to the stars

And beyond

Farewell, my friends, farewell

I'll see you all tomorrow

Be strong, my friends, be strong

We'll sing again tomorrow

Free from the world

Free from the struggle

We ride the sky

Soaring so high

Forever"

"That was nice," Clementine said with a smile.

"Not bad," Kenny said. "Where'd you learn to play like that?"

"I used to play professionally actually," Cassie replied as she continued to strum on the guitar not playing anything in particular.

"Professionally? You mean you play for money?" Clementine asked.

Cassie smiled. "Sort of. I used to be in a band with my husband and a couple friends. We actually had a few albums out."

"Really," Lee said, intrigued. "Anything we'd know?"

"Probably not. We weren't really all that famous. I mean I'd like to think we could have been if circumstances had been different." She lowered her eyes. Clearly this conversation was bringing up painful memories for her.

Kenny looked at her sadly. He had a feeling that the reason her band didn't get far was because of the car accident she had told him about and the devastating consequences. More than likely if she and her husband hadn't been getting along, they certainly wouldn't be in the mood to play music together.

She took a deep breath. "Anyway, what did you guys do before the world ended?" she asked as she set the guitar aside.

"I was a history teacher at University of Georgia in Athens," Lee replied.

"I was a commercial fisherman in Fort Lauderdale," Kenny said.

"Ah, that explains the boat idea," Cassie said with a nod.

"Yeah, yeah," Kenny sighed, "You made your point."

Lee looked from Cassie to Kenny curiously. "So, I guess the boat idea is out then?"

"Yeah," Kenny said slowly as he glanced at Cassie before turning his attention to Lee. "Cassie so graciously pointed out the flaws in that plan. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Apparently, you were thinking like a fisherman," Cassie said with a smirk.

Kenny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, apparently."

"I guess we gotta come up with a new plan then," Lee pointed out.

"Well I think that conversation is best kept for the morning. I'm going to get some shut-eye. Night fellas," Cassie said as she lay down on her side facing away from Kenny, Lee, and Clementine towards the back of the train, using her backpack as a pillow.

The rest of the group sat in silence for a few minutes until Lee remembered something he had been meaning to ask Clementine.

"Clementine, why didn't you tell me you had a birthday six days ago?"

"What?" Kenny said, surprised as he looked at Clementine. "Clem, you had a birthday? That would make you, what, nine now?"

"Yeah," Clementine answered as she looked at the floor.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kenny asked.

Clementine shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it just didn't seem important with everything that's been going on."

"Aw, Clem. Of course birthdays are important," Lee said as he put his arm around the little girl. "Even with all the stuff we have to deal with, birthdays should still be important, especially for a young girl like you." He put his finger under her chin and gently lifted her head up. "And I promise you, we're going to celebrate every one of your birthdays from now on, one way or another. So happy birthday."

"Yeah, happy birthday, darlin'," Kenny said.

Clementine smiled at them both. "Thanks. And I already got what I wanted."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Lee asked.

"You guys, safe here with me."

Lee smiled and hugged the girl close to his side. "Aw, thanks, sweet pea."

Clementine yawned widely just then, and Lee realized just how late it was getting.

"I think you should get some sleep too, Clem. It's been a long day," Lee said.

"Ok, Lee," Clementine said tiredly. She started to lie down next to Lee but stopped and sat up straight again. She looked up at Lee and then at Kenny before returning her gaze to Lee once again. She chewed on her bottom lip, unsure how Lee was going to feel about what she wanted to say.

"What is it, sweet pea?" Lee asked, noticing her uncertainty.

"Um, Lee, do you mind if I sleep with Kenny tonight?" she asked timidly.

Lee smiled slightly. He knew how much Kenny's supposed death had affected the little girl. She just needed to feel close to him after the scare she had. "No, I don't mind. That is, if it's alright with Kenny."

Kenny smiled. "Nah, I don't mind. C'mere Clem."

Clementine crawled over to Kenny and lay down with her head in his lap.

Kenny looked down at the little girl as he ran his hand through her unruly curls. He was absolutely elated that Clementine still cared about him even after the way he had been treating everyone since Katjaa and Duck's deaths. He knew he hadn't been the easiest person to get along with, especially now. Lately he had been snapping at everyone, getting into fights, and he had even gotten drunk at some point and let Clementine go into the backyard by herself. He knew now that that was the stupidest thing he had ever done. He should have been watching out for Clementine while Lee was gone, not letting her just go outside like it was a normal day, like the dead weren't walking around looking for their next meal.

Kenny sighed. "I miss this."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"I don't know if you know this, but back at the motor inn when you were on night watch, Clementine would sometimes come into mine and Katjaa's room and climb into bed with me."

Lee smiled a little as he nodded. Yeah, he remembered. Sometimes whenever Clementine would have a nightmare she would crawl into bed with him. However, on nights when he was on watch, he would sometimes see Clementine leave her room late at night and go into Kenny's. He had felt so relieved that she felt comfortable enough to do that with someone else in the group other than him. So, if something actually did happen to him, he knew that she would still have someone she cared about and who cared about her.

"I remember the first time she came into my room," Kenny continued. "I thought something might have happened so I sat up and asked her what was wrong. And Clementine, she just stood there timidly with her hand on her left arm. Then she asked me if she could sleep with me since you were on watch all night. I remember feeling so relieved and honored actually because it was the first time she had shown any closeness to anyone in the group besides you. Katjaa thought it was adorable, and how could I say no? The smile she gave me as she climbed into bed with me made me feel so warm inside." He sighed as he looked down at Clementine's sleeping form. "I guess I've been pushing her away, huh?"

"You've been pushing all of us away," Lee said.

"I know, pal," Kenny said with a sigh. "And I don't mean to be."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No," Kenny said quickly.

Lee sighed. "Man, I know it's hard, but you'll feel better if you talk about it. Keeping your feelings bottled up isn't healthy."

"I know, man," Kenny muttered as he glanced at Cassie, wondering if she had fallen asleep yet. She had told him the same thing. It was nice to know that he had people who cared about him enough to try to help him get through this, even Cassie, who he barely even knew. But it was just too painful to talk about. "I just can't talk about it yet."

Lee nodded in understanding. "Alright, but remember you're not alone. I'm here if you ever want to talk."

"Thanks."

Lee looked down at Clementine's sleeping form. "You know she blamed herself for what happened to you."

"What? Why?"

"Because she listened to the man on the radio. He told her that he had her parents with him and that if she came outside she'd get to see them. He lied of course. It was just to get her to come outside."

Kenny shook his head. He couldn't believe what some people were capable of these days. "Fucking bastard. Who was that guy anyway?"

Lee sighed and scratched the back of his head. "You remember that abandoned station wagon filled with supplies we came upon after what happened at the dairy farm?"

"Yes," Kenny said slowly, not liking where this was going.

"It belonged to him and his family," Lee replied with a sideways glance at Kenny.

"Ah jeez," Kenny said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a feeling that was what Lee was going to say.

"Yep. And after they discovered their supplies missing, his wife got pissed, took his daughter, and left. He found them as walkers not long after."

Kenny closed his eyes and lowered his head. He couldn't help but feel guilty now. It had been his idea to take the food and supplies. Even though Lee and the others went along with it, with some protestations from Lilly and even Clementine, he still felt it was mainly his fault. He knew that even if the others hadn't agreed, he still would have taken that stuff because his family, the whole group needed it. He hadn't even thought about the consequences. He supposed he did that a lot, just rushed headlong into situations without thinking about the consequences of his actions. He needed to work on that. He needed to work on a lot of things about himself if he was going to be the trusted friend that Lee deserved and the caregiver that Clementine deserved aside from Lee.

"Oh man. I'm sorry, Lee," Kenny said guiltily.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Lee asked, confused.

"It was my idea to take that stuff in the first place."

"Yeah, but I agreed with you. Don't put this all on your shoulders, Ken. We all took that stuff, not just you. We're all to blame. Besides, the guy was crazy. He had his wife's head in a bowling bag, and it was still moving."

Kenny's face wrinkled in disgust. "Oh man. Please tell me we don't have to worry about him anymore."

"We don't. He's dead."

"Good."

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep myself," Lee said with a yawn. "You turning in?"

"In a little while."

"Ok, goodnight, Ken," Lee said as he lied down on his side with his back to Kenny.

Kenny watched Lee get comfortable until his breathing even out in sleep. He then shifted slightly so he could lean against the side of the train car, careful not to wake Clementine. He kept his eyes glued to Lee. He meant what he said to Cassie before getting into the train. He intended to keep an eye on Lee all night just in case. He was pretty sure Lee wasn't going to turn, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Of course, his plan didn't actually turn out that way as his eyes began to droop.

Author's Note: So, there you have it. Let me know what you think. And if any of you are curious, the song that Cassie sang I actually got from a movie. I can't remember the name of it, but I remember it wasn't very good. I did like the song though. If you want to hear what it sounds like, you can find it on youtube. Just type in Jess's Song, and it should be one of the first ones to come up. The picture for it shows a blue background with music notes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – To Leave or Stay?

The Next Morning

Kenny blinked his eyes opened groggily and found himself sleeping on his back staring at the metal ceiling of a train car. A ray of yellow sunlight shone through the window on the door at the end of the car. It was morning, and Kenny's back ached like no other. Sleeping on the bare floor of a freight train wasn't exactly conducive to comfortable sleeping. Then he remembered he wasn't supposed to be sleeping at all. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on Lee. He bolted up straight with that realization, startling Clementine awake.

Clementine looked around sleepily, rubbing her eyes and wondering why she was awakened so violently. She looked up at Kenny. "Kenny? What's going on?"

Kenny ignored the question as his eyes fell on Lee who was in the same position he had been when he went to sleep. It looked like he hadn't moved an inch all night and Kenny tried to think if that was normal. Don't people usually move around when they sleep? He was worried that maybe Lee had died during the night and just hadn't reanimated yet.

He took a deep breath and slowly crawled over to Lee's form. He peeked over him, trying to get a look at his face, but it was hidden in shadows. Since the lamp had long since gone out, the only source of light in the car was the shaft of sunlight shining through the one window at the end of the car. He slowly reached his hand out towards Lee's shoulder, intending to roll him over so he could get a good look at his face. Just as he was about to make contact, Lee rolled over on his own. Startled, Kenny jumped backward with a yelp, landing on his butt.

Lee jolted awake at the noise and sat up straight. Looking around confusedly, he saw Kenny sitting on his butt with an indignant look on his face and Clementine giggling next to him.

"Kenny? What's up?"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Lee! You scared the shit out of me!"

"Swear," Clementine said.

"Oh, sorry, Clem."

Lee laughed. "Sorry, Ken. You startled me."

"I startled you? You almost gave me a fucking heart attack."

"Swear," Clementine said, a little indignant this time.

Lee smirked. "Glad to see I'm not the only one she does that to. I'm afraid you got your work cut out for you, Clem, if you're gonna try to get Kenny to stop swearing."

"Very funny, smart ass," Kenny said lightly.

Clementine crossed her arms across her chest and glared at Kenny at his use of foul language yet again, which made Lee laugh even harder.

Kenny, realizing he did it again, smacked his hand on his forehead before looking back at Clementine. "Oh jeez, Clem. I'm sorry. Sometimes I just can't help it. It just rolls off the tongue."

"I rest my case," Lee said, smirking.

"Alright, alright. That's enough of that," Kenny said as he stood up and gave Lee hand up as well. "So, I guess this means you really are ok."

"Yeah, I guess so. I feel great." Lee's smile got impossibly wider. He hadn't felt this happy since before the dead started to walk the earth. Words couldn't express the joy he felt at the thought that he would never become one of those ravenous monstrosities.

"Oh man. That's fu…" Kenny began, but stopped himself as he glanced down at Clementine. He didn't want her scolding him about his harsh language again. "That's great, man," he corrected himself, which made Clementine smile. "I'm happy for you."

There was a groan from the other end of the train car. "What is all the noise about?" Cassie asked as she rolled over to face the two men. "Some people are still trying to sleep."

"Sorry, Cassie, but we're just celebrating the fact that Lee's going to be fine," Kenny replied, a huge grin on his face.

Cassie blinked the sleep from her eyes as she sat up and looked at Lee. "Well I'll be damned. Guess you aren't going to become one of those things. Congratulations, man. That's awesome."

"What are you talking about?" Clementine asked. She looked up at her guardian. "Lee, what do they mean? Why wouldn't you be ok?"

"Uh, look, Clementine. I've got to tell you something," Lee said as he knelt down to her level.

"Oh no. Did something bad happen?" Clementine asked, worried.

"Yes and no. Um…" he paused as he glanced at Kenny and Cassie.

Kenny, taking the hint, turned to Cassie. "Hey, why don't we check out the area, make sure there aren't any walkers wondering around nearby?"

Once Kenny and Cassie were gone, Lee returned his attention to Clementine. "Look, Clem, I gotta tell you something, and I don't want you to get upset, ok?"

"What is it?"

Lee sighed. He knew it was going to be difficult for her to hear, but he felt she deserved to know the truth for future reference in case it ever happened again. So, he lifted up his arm and showed her the wound on his wrist.

"I got bit, Clem," he explained.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the bite in horror. Her eyes immediately began to tear up as she shook her head. "Lee, no," she cried.

"But it's ok. It's ok," he rushed to assure her, "I'm fine. I'm not going to become one of them."

"But isn't that what happens when you get bit? It happened to Duck."

"Yeah, normally. But I got bit yesterday morning. If I was going to turn, it would have happened already. Trust me, I feel fine. Do I look sick to you?"

Clementine looked into Lee's eyes and noticed that he didn't look the way Duck did after he got bit. "No," she replied, her voice a bit shaky, "but how?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'm immune." Lee replied.

"Oh. Does that mean you won't become one of them?"

"Yeah, it does."

"Good," she said with sigh. "I don't want you to become a walker."

Lee pulled her into a hug, rubbing small circles on her back. She wrapped her small arms around his neck tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, the tears that had been building in her eyes finally spilling onto her cheeks. He could feel her shaking in his arms a little bit and whispered soothing words in her ear to help calm her down. After a few minutes, she finally spoke.

"Lee?"

"Yeah, sweet pea?"

"Did…did you get bit while you were looking for me?"

Lee tensed slightly remembering how he got bit because he had been so focused on finding Clementine that he hadn't noticed the walker hiding amongst the trash nearby. He knew she was going to blame herself for that just like she did for what happened to Kenny. He pulled away from her but kept his hands on her thin shoulders.

"Yes, but it wasn't your fault."

"But if I hadn't listened to that man…" Clementine began, her eyes staring at the floor. She felt so guilty she just couldn't look him in the face.

"Clem, look at me," Lee said. He waited until her eyes met his once more. "It's his fault, not yours. He did this. He lied to you, and he manipulated you to get you to come outside. You're going to meet a lot of people like that, Clem, people who will lie and steal, and you've got to learn how to tell who you can trust and who you can't."

"How do you do that?" Clementine asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"It's not easy, trust me," Lee replied, thinking about all the people he shouldn't have trusted but did, first and foremost being the St. Johns and Vernon and his group. One tried to eat them for dinner, and the other stole their boat right out from under them. "But we'll work on it together."

Clementine nodded with a small smile.

* * *

Kenny and Cassie climbed out of the train to give Lee and Clementine some privacy to talk. It was a bright and clear morning. The sun was warm, but there was a slight chill in the air. There was a gentle breeze that blew through the trees noisily, letting them know that nature, if nothing else, was still alive and flourishing. It was probably the only thing that remained untouched while everything else in the world went to shit. Savannah could be seen in the distance. It looked so surreal, like any city when looked at from afar. You'd never know that the city was now ruled by the dead.

They both kept their eyes peeled as they walked a little bit away from the train, both keeping an eye out for any walkers in the vicinity. Kenny noticed Cassie glancing back at the train as they walked and followed her gaze to where Lee was kneeling down in front of Clementine talking. Kenny assumed he was telling her about his bite. He hoped she didn't take it too harshly.

"So, they're pretty close, huh?" Cassie asked.

Kenny nodded as they continued walking. "Yeah. They're like two peas in a pod. I don't know what they would do without each other."

"Where are her parents?" Cassie inquired as she kept an eye out for any stray walker that may be lurking about.

"I'm not sure. Lee told me that they were here in Savannah when all this got started. I get the feeling that their already dead."

"Damn. Poor kid," Cassie said sympathetically. She looked to her right past Kenny and noticed a lone walker shambling along a few feet from them. "Walker, 2:00." She indicated with a flick of her head.

"And there's one at 10:00," Kenny said, pointing at the walker he had spotted in the opposite direction but a bit further off.

"I'll get this one, you get that one," she said as she took out her dagger and expertly spun it around in her palm so the blade was facing downwards.

Kenny's eyebrows rose at the way she handled that knife before nodding, and they both went their separate ways, Kenny going for the one he had spotted while Cassie went for the one she saw. Kenny took out the dagger Cassie had given him and approached the lone walker limping along seemingly aimlessly. It hadn't noticed him yet. He saw that its right ankle was broken so badly that its foot was actually sideways as it walked, and he wondered how it was even standing with its ankle like that.

As he neared, the walker turned around, and upon seeing him, lurched toward him with a growl. It lifted its decaying arms up intending to grab him, but Kenny easily sidestepped out of its way and jabbed the knife right into the walker's skull. Blood poured from the wound and sprayed everywhere as he pulled the knife out again. His job done, he turned toward Cassie and saw that she had already taken care of the other one and was walking toward him while wiping the blood off her blade with a red bandana she had pulled out of her pocket.

"Nice job," Kenny said.

"Thanks. You too. Here," she said as she handed him the bandana. "If you're going to keep it, you better take care of it."

He looked down at the blood covered dagger in his hand before accepting the bandana. "Ok. Do you always carry one of these around?" he asked as he began to wipe off the blade.

"Yes," she replied in a tone that said, doesn't everybody. "These daggers aren't easy to come by. So, like I said, you better take care of it."

"I've been meaning to ask you, where did you learn to use a knife like that?"

She gave him a half smile as she looked at the dagger. "Well, when all this started, my husband and I were lucky enough to meet up with this man. His name was Eli, and man, what he could do with a knife was insane. He was like ten times better than I am. He must have been learning since he was a kid. He taught us everything there is to know about how to use a knife. He even gave each of us one of his daggers and a few throwing knives."

Kenny looked down at the dagger in his hand as he realized why she had two of them. "So, this one was your husband's?"

Cassie sighed. "Yeah, it is."

"Are you sure you want me to keep it?" Kenny asked.

Cassie looked at the dagger in his hand sadly. She hadn't thought much about it when she handed him that knife since they were in a dire situation at the time, but she had thought about it afterwards when he tried to give it back. She had been holding onto that knife like a lifeline ever since Patrick had died. It was like she was afraid if she lost it, she would lose her connection to him, her memories of him. But now she realized that wasn't true. She didn't need a knife to remember him. All she had to do was close her eyes and she would see him, the way he laughed at her stupid jokes, the way he caressed her cheek when she was feeling down. Yes, she decided, she was ready to give it up, and she knew Kenny would take good care of it.

She looked Kenny in the eye and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. You need it more than I do right now."

Kenny felt honored that she would give him something that meant so much to her. "Thanks, that means a lot," he said as he put the dagger back in its sheath. "I promise I'll take good care of it."

"I know you will," she said with smile.

They heard footsteps behind them and turned to see Lee approaching them, looking dismayed.

"Hey, how's Clementine?" Kenny asked.

"She's ok, I think," Lee replied.

"Did she take it hard?"

"At first, but I think she understands. It's not just that though. We, uh, saw her parents on the way out of the Marsh House. They were walkers."

Kenny closed his eyes, feeling horrible that that little girl had to see her parents like that. No kid should have to go through that. "Oh man. Is she ok?"

"It's just now sinking in. I think she'll be ok. She just needs some time," Lee replied.

Cassie glanced back at the train sympathetically. "Poor kid." She looked at the two men before her and decided to change the subject. "Well, I think you two have a decision to make."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"It's obvious that your friends haven't made it back. Now you guys have to decide whether or not you want to wait here for them or move on."

"Are you suggesting that we leave them?" Kenny asked.

"Look, I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm just playing devil's advocate here. You've got to think about the group, about Clementine. I mean, unless you guys are carrying groceries on your person, which is highly unlikely, I'm guessing that you have no food, no water, no supplies of any kind, and Savannah is pretty much tapped out. We really can't afford to stay here another day. I have a little, but not enough for all of us. How long has it been since you've eaten?"

Lee thought about it for a second. When was the last time they had eaten? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that the last time he remembered having food of any kind, was back at the motor inn. That was about a day and a half ago. His stomach growled, confirming his suspicions. He didn't realize until that moment how hungry he was.

"I guess it has been a while," Lee admitted.

"That's what I thought," Cassie said with a nod. "Look, you guys talk it out. I'm going to go grab something from my backpack."

She left the two men to talk as she made her way back to the train. She climbed inside and pulled her backpack close to her. She opened it and started rummaging about inside. She paused when she heard sniffling. She looked up and saw Clementine sitting against the side of the train with her legs tucked close to her chest. Her eyes were red, and Cassie could tell she had been crying. She sighed as she pulled a granola bar from her pack and crawled over to where Clementine sat.

"Hey, Clementine. Are you ok?" Cassie asked gently.

Clementine looked at her with watery eyes. "I miss my parents."

"I know you do," Cassie said as she moved to sit against the wall next to Clementine. "We've all lost people we love. But hey, at least you're not alone. You've still got Kenny and Lee."

"I almost lost both of them," Clementine muttered, a few stray tears making their way down her cheeks.

"But you didn't. And that's the most important thing."

"But what happens if I do?"

Cassie sighed as she thought about how best to answer that question. "Look, Clem, it's best if you don't worry about what might happen. You just enjoy the time you have with the people you love, and deal with things if and when they happen. You won't be losing them anytime soon, I promise. And they'll take good care of you. You understand?"

Clementine nodded as she wiped the tears from her cheeks with another little sniffle.

"And hey, you have me now too," Cassie said with a smile as she handed the little girl the granola bar.

Clementine looked at the granola bar and then looked up at Cassie with a small smile. "Thank you," she said as she accepted the food.

"You're welcome."

"Are we going to be leaving soon?" Clementine asked as she ripped open the wrapper.

"I don't know. I'll have to go talk to the boys," Cassie said as she stood up. She picked up her backpack, pulled out two more granola bars, and then slung the pack on one shoulder. "Something tells me, they need a woman around to tell them what to do."

Clementine giggled at that.

Cassie smiled as she looked at the little girl. "Now that's what I like to hear. Eat that. I'll be right back."

Clementine nodded and took a bite of the granola bar.

Cassie hopped down from the train and walked toward Lee and Kenny who were presumably still discussing their current situation. She could make out part of their conversation as she approached.

"I just don't feel comfortable leaving them behind," Lee said.

"I know, man," Kenny replied. "I don't either, but Cassie's got a point. We don't have anything in the way of supplies, and Savannah is pretty empty thanks to those Crawford assholes."

She thought now might be a good time to interrupt. "Heads up," she called as she tossed one granola bar to Lee and one to Kenny.

Lee looked at the granola bar in surprise. "Thanks, but what about you?" he asked, noticing that she didn't have one.

"Unfortunately, I only had three. I gave the other one to Clementine."

Although Lee was grateful that she took care of Clementine, he felt guilty about leaving her with nothing to eat herself. "Hey, we can't take all your food," he said, trying to hand it back.

"Don't worry about it," she said with a shake of her head. "You need it more than I do. So, did you guys…" She trailed off as her eyes strayed to something behind Lee and Kenny. "Oh shit."

Both men turned around at her expletive and their eyes widened. Dozens of walkers were heading their way. The train would be overrun in a matter of minutes.

"Fuck! Why the hell are they coming this way?" Kenny asked.

"Who the fuck cares? We gotta get out of here!" Cassie yelled as she ran back towards the train.

"Shit! She's right, Lee. We gotta go now," Kenny said before running after her.

Lee hesitated as he looked back at the horde of walkers shambling their way towards him. He really didn't want to leave Christa and Omid, but they had no choice now. This place wasn't safe anymore.

"Damn it," he muttered as he too ran back to the train. He ran to the open door on the side of the train and beckoned Clementine forward. "C'mon, Clem. We have to go."

Clementine immediately got up and ran to the side door. Lee helped her down from the train, and the four of them ran as fast as they could away from Savannah. Lee looked back one last time, hoping that Christa and Omid had made it out of the city safely and that they would see each other again someday.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Trouble at the Truck Stop

Eight Months Later

Lee, Kenny, Cassie, and Clementine approached what looked to be a truck stop. They had decided to check out the bathrooms here because they were all pretty dirty from wandering through the woods so much. They needed a place to get cleaned up and maybe take care of some business because lord knows they were tired of doing it out in the woods, especially the girls. They stopped at the edge of the forest and crouched down behind a bush as they surveyed the area, looking for any possible dangers. They were at the back of the truck stop where the bathrooms were located.

"What do you think?" Kenny asked.

"Looks clear to me," Cassie replied.

"Yeah, that's the problem. It always looks clear. Don't mean it is," Kenny pointed out.

"Well, we can't wait around in a bush all day. Let's just go," she said as she stood up and started walking toward the truck stop.

Kenny sighed in annoyance as he quickly followed her, his gun already in hand ready for anything. Lee looked down at Clementine and, after reminding her to stay close, followed Kenny and Cassie.

"Do you think they'll have running water?" Clementine asked hopefully as they walked.

"I don't know, sweet pea. I hope so," Lee replied.

"Don't count on it. Running water is a luxury we're not likely to find these days," Kenny deadpanned.

"Kenny," Cassie scolded, smacking him the shoulder.

"Ow, what?" Kenny asked, confused.

"Don't tell her stuff like that."

"What? What did I say?"

"You basically just told her to give up hope. Never give up hope, Clementine," Cassie said as she looked back at the little girl before glaring at Kenny once more. "It's what keeps us alive."

"Hey, it's not like I told her to give up on life. I just didn't want her to be disappointed," Kenny defended.

"But you're always telling her stuff like that."

"I'm just being realistic."

"No, you're being an asshole," she said as she crossed her arms, but there was no maliciousness or anger in her voice. She was just simply stating a fact.

"Why are you always on my case?" Kenny asked, getting annoyed but surprisingly not angry.

"Because you're always so damn negative."

Lee and Clementine watched the two as they continued their verbal sparring match. They had reached the truck stop by now, but those two were still going at it.

"They sure do fight a lot," Clementine stated.

"Yeah, but it's a good kind of fighting," Lee said with a slight smile on his face. They had been knit-picking at each other for a while now, but he saw the looks they gave each other when the other wasn't looking. There was definitely an attraction there.

"How can any kind of fighting be good?" Clementine asked.

"When it's between two people who actually like each other but they're either too stubborn to admit it or they're afraid to," Lee explained.

"So, you're saying they fight because they like each other?"

"Sort of."

"I don't get it," Clementine said, a confused look on her face. Why would you fight with someone if you like them?

Lee laughed slightly. "Yeah, it does get kind of complicated, especially when love gets involved."

"So now you're saying they love each other?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. They're definitely attracted to each other though."

"But Kenny and Lilly fought all the time, and I don't think they liked each other," Clementine said, still a little confused by the whole conversation.

"Well, that's different," Lee replied. Seeing that she still didn't get it, he decided to explain. "You remember when Kenny and Lilly fought, they'd both get angry and start screaming at each other, and then either one or both would storm off?"

"Yeah. I hated it when they fought."

"Me too. But you notice Kenny and Cassie don't do that? They fight, yes, but they don't get angry. They don't yell at each other. It's more like a friendly banter. You understand?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's still annoying though."

Lee looked at the two as they continued to argue, and really by this time, it was a pointless argument. "Yeah, you're right. I think this has to stop now." He took a step forward. "Hey, you two. How about calling a truce so we can check this place out?"

They both looked at him in surprise, almost as if they had forgotten he was even there. Then they looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Yeah. Right. I'm going to go check out the perimeter," Cassie said. With one last look at Kenny, she turned and walked around the side of the truck stop.

Kenny watched her go until she was out of sight. "I'm going to go take a piss," he said as he walked toward the men's room.

"Thanks for sharing that, Kenny. We all really needed to know that," Lee said sarcastically.

Kenny paused at the door and looked back at Lee with a small smile. "Yep," he said before he pushed the door open.

With a shake of his head, he led Clementine over to the women's room. "Want me to check to make sure it's safe?" he asked.

Clem shook her head. "No, I think I can handle it," she said as she held up her gun.

Lee nodded. "Ok, just remember to keep your things close just in case."

Clementine nodded, and Lee watched as she disappeared into the bathroom. He leaned against the wall, lost in his own thoughts. He had decided that she should have her own gun a few months back. He had given her a few more shooting lessons and felt that she was ready to have one of her own. After all, he knew she was going to need one to protect herself from now on. He wasn't always going to be around to protect her so she needed to protect herself. She had already proven she could handle shooting walkers back in Crawford when she shot that walker to save Molly.

He sighed. Even though he was glad that she could take care of herself now, he was still a little depressed because it meant that she was growing up and soon she wouldn't need him anymore. He knew it was a little selfish, but he sometimes wished that she was still that eight-year-old girl he had found hiding in a tree house who needed his protection every single day. Now she was almost ten and didn't seem to need him as much anymore. She could kill walkers. She knew to check any room or building to make sure it's safe before doing anything. She knew what to look for when scavenging for supplies, all without his help. It was a comforting thought, but it was also a depressing one.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the growling of a walker nearby. He looked around and saw a lone walker wandering around a few yards from him. Glancing back at the bathroom door, he decided he should take of it before it becomes a problem. Walking away from the truck stop, he took out his meat cleaver. It only took a couple of minutes to dispatch the walker. He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he looked down at the now dead walker. He never did like the smell these things seem to permeate. It was like death and decay all rolled into one. He walked back to the bathroom door just as Cassie was coming back around the corner.

"Hey, Lee."

"Hey," he replied, his face downcast.

Cassie frowned as she noticed his melancholy expression. "What's wrong? You look kind of down."

Lee crossed his arms across his chest with a sigh as he leaned against the wall. "It's just…it's Clementine."

"Is she ok?" she asked, worried that something might have happened to the little girl she had grown so fond of over the past few months.

"She's fine. It's just she doesn't seem to need me as much anymore."

Cassie smirked as she nodded in understanding. "Ah, I get it. She's becoming more independent, and you're a little depressed about it."

"Yeah," Lee replied sadly.

"But isn't that a good thing? I mean isn't that what you've been teaching her?"

"Don't get me wrong. I'm glad she can take care of herself. I'm just worried that one day she won't need me at all."

"Lee, no matter how old that girl gets, she's always going to need you," Cassie said in a reassuring tone. "Maybe not as much and maybe not like she used to, but she'll never stop needing you. You're the one person she cares most about. You're like a father to her. Never forget that."

Lee looked up at Cassie and smiled. "Thanks, Cass," he said, her words making him feel a little better.

Cassie smile back with a slight nod. "You're welcome. Now I'm going to see if maybe there might be a clean toilet," she said, indicating the door to the ladies' room with her thumb.

"And toilet paper, right?" Lee said jokingly, remembering her complaining about not having any while they were traveling through the woods.

"Oh god, yes," she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "You know there are just some things that you don't appreciate until you don't have them anymore."

Lee chuckled. "Ain't that the truth. Well, I'll be here."

"Yep."

Cassie pushed the door open and walked in. She paused however when she saw a young African American woman holding Clementine at gunpoint while she rooted through the little girl's backpack that was sitting on one of the sinks. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five, if that, with a head full of braids and wearing a pink sweatshirt. She was mumbling about how Clementine didn't have anything good.

Her heart pounding, Cassie glanced at Clementine to make sure she was alright, and Clem met her gaze with a look of fear in her eyes. Cassie knew she had to do something before this ended in tragedy so she decided she was going to sneak up on this girl and take the gun away before she even noticed Cassie was there. However, as she was walking slowly up behind the girl, she heard the door snick loudly closed behind her, and her heart sank. She didn't take her eyes off the girl though. She saw her spin the gun around towards her and quickly dove behind the bathroom stalls as the gun went off. The bullet hit the wall right where Cassie had been standing.

"Fuck," Cassie muttered as she got back on her feet and pulled out her own gun. She peered around the corner and saw the shock and surprise on the girl's face, and something told her this girl hadn't meant to pull the trigger.

At that moment, Lee burst in, his gun raised. He looked around the room worriedly until he spotted the stranger holding a gun and aimed his own weapon at her. Upon seeing Lee barging in, she immediately dropped the gun and put up her hands in surrender, her eyes wide in fright. Clearly, she didn't want a confrontation.

"Cassie, Clementine, you girls ok?" Lee asked, not taking his eyes off the woman.

"Lee!" Clementine cried and ran towards him, hugging him tight.

Lee rubbed her back gently with one hand while still holding his gun with the other. "Hey, sweet pea. You alright?"

Clementine let go of Lee and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok."

Kenny came in at that moment with his own gun raised. "What hell's going on in here? I heard a gunshot. Is everyone alright?"

"Aside from almost getting shot, I'm fine," Cassie replied as she put her gun away, figuring the girl wasn't a danger to them anymore now that she no longer had a weapon.

Kenny's eyes widened and then narrowed into slits as he looked at the woman responsible for almost killing Cassie. He stalked towards her angrily. "Who the fuck are you? What the hell are you doing in here?"

"I-I'm sorry," the girl stammered.

"Sorry?! You almost shot my girl! You think I can forgive that?" Kenny yelled angrily.

Cassie's eyes widened in surprise at that comment. Kenny thought she was his girl? When did that happen? No one else seemed to notice his little slip, not even Kenny himself, so she quickly put on a calm exterior. Now wasn't the time to question him about it. She'd wait until later.

"Look, I-I didn't mean to. She surprised me and the gun just w-went off," the girl tried to explain.

Kenny looked down at the gun lying on the floor, and his anger immediately started bubbling again. He recognized that gun. That was the one Lee had given Clementine a few months back. He looked back at the girl.

"That's not even your gun, is it? What the hell were you doing?"

"I-I-I-I…" she stuttered fearfully. She obviously couldn't handle being in the face of Kenny's ire as no more words left her mouth.

Frustrated, Kenny turned to the Clementine, and his face softened considerably. "Clem, what happened?" he asked in a gentler tone.

Clementine put her hand on her left arm. "She tried to rob me. She took my gun and was looking through my backpack asking if I had anything else. It's my fault. I'm sorry," she said guiltily.

Lee looked at her in surprise. "What? No, Clem. This isn't your fault."

"It is. You told me to keep my things close, but I left my gun on the sink while I went to pick up the water bottle I dropped. I should have kept my gun with me. I'm sorry."

"This ain't your fault, darlin'. You couldn't have known someone was going to come walking in," Kenny reasoned.

"Kenny's right," Lee said. "If it's anybody's fault, it's mine. She must have snuck in while I was killing that walker. I shouldn't have left the door unattended."

"If we're going to blame anyone, it should be this bitch right here," Kenny said, returning his attention to the girl. "What kind of a person steals from a little girl?"

"Look, I'm sorry," the girl said, her voice a little bit steadier, although she still looked scared out of her mind. "I don't have anything. I just needed food, supplies."

"Ever hear of asking?" Cassie said, crossing her arms.

The girl glanced at her. "People nowadays aren't very giving. I learned that the hard way."

"I outta fucking kill you right now," Kenny growled menacingly.

"Whoa, wait a minute. Let's not go overboard," Cassie said. "She obviously didn't mean to the pull the trigger, and she didn't have a weapon when she walked in here otherwise she wouldn't have needed to take Clementine's. She's no danger to us now. There's no reason to kill her."

"Cassie's right, Ken," Lee agreed. "She's not worth it. She's just a survivor like us. You're not a murderer. Don't become one."

Kenny thought about their words as he continued to glare daggers at the woman in front of him. The word murderer stuck with him as he remembered how Lilly had shot Carley because she thought she was stealing their supplies, believing that she was protecting the group. And they left her on the side of road for it. He wasn't willing to go down the road, but he still had to make sure this woman didn't come back to try to get revenge or something.

He leaned closer to the woman, his face completely serious. "I should kill you, but lucky for you, it ain't up to me. I'm going to leave it up to the two people you put in danger. Cassie, Clementine, whatever you two decide is fine with me."

Cassie looked from Kenny to the woman who was almost cowering in fear before Kenny's angry visage. She knew this woman was no threat to them. She was just a survivor like the rest of them, trying to get by any way that she could. Sure, she was going about it the wrong way, but people do stupid things when they're desperate or scared.

"I think we should let her go," Cassie said finally. "She's no threat to us. Clearly, she didn't want to hurt anyone when she walked in here, and she definitely didn't mean to pull that trigger. We should just let her go."

Lee nodded in approval while Kenny didn't say anything. He just turned toward Clementine with a questioning look, waiting for her response.

Clementine looked from Kenny to Lee, feeling a bit overwhelmed that they were leaving this decision up to her and Cassie, but at the same time, it felt nice that they were actually going to consider her opinion. Because she was a little girl, people didn't always consider her thoughts and feelings. Like when they stole those supplies from the station wagon. She knew it was wrong, and she didn't want to do it and had even said as much, but they took the stuff anyway despite what she thought. But they were letting her be a part of this decision now, and she wasn't going to let them down.

Clementine looked at the woman who met her gaze with a pleading look. Even though this woman had just been holding a gun on her demanding that she give her all her stuff, including her beloved hat, mere moments ago, Clementine still felt sorry for her. And she knew she couldn't allow anything to happen to this girl because it wasn't right. They weren't monsters, they weren't bandits, and they weren't murderers. They were good people.

"I agree with Cassie. We should let her go," Clementine decided. The look of relief on the girl's face made Clem smile because she knew she had done the right thing.

Kenny nodded and looked at the woman. "Well, you heard the ladies, get the hell outta here."

"Th-thank you. All of you," the woman said as she moved toward the door, her eyes darting from one person to the next as if afraid that they were bluffing and they were just going to kill her anyway.

"Hey," Kenny called which caused her to freeze in her tracks. "I ever see you again, I will kill you."

"And we'll let him," Cassie said with her arms crossed, letting her know that they were letting her go this time, but if she tried anything again, they wouldn't be as generous.

"I get it. I'm gone. You won't ever see me again," the girl said before she bolted out of the door.

After she was gone, Kenny turned and leaned his hands on the sinks with a sigh. "Damn it," he muttered.

"We did the right thing, Kenny," Lee said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just tired of this shit," Kenny replied as he ran a hand over his face.

"I'm sorry," Clementine apologized once more.

Kenny turned toward her and knelt down to her level. "I already told you. This ain't your fault, darlin'. Come here," he said, beckoning her into a hug which she complied, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. "It's ok. It just happened. Ain't no one's fault." He glanced up at Lee with that last sentence, letting him know that it wasn't his fault either, and Lee nodded in understanding.

Kenny then stood up and turned to face Lee. "Hey Lee, you mind giving us a minute?" he asked as he glanced at Cassie.

Lee looked from one to the other before nodding in understanding. "Uh, sure. Clem and I will just go check the perimeter."

"But Cassie already did that," Clementine said.

"Yeah, well, we're going to do it again just to make sure there aren't any more surprises," Lee said as he ushered Clem to the door.

Clementine looked up at Lee in puzzlement. "Lee, what's going on?" she asked as Lee pushed the door open.

"It's ok. I think they just need some time alone."

Clementine's eyes widened as she remembered their earlier conversation about those two. "Oh," she said slowly. Then she giggled. She hoped they got together. She thought they would make a good couple.

Once Lee and Clementine were gone, Cassie looked at Kenny. "So, I'm your girl, huh? When did that happen?" she asked light-heartedly.

Kenny sighed as he turned toward sinks once again, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Cassie could sense that he wanted to tell her something big, so she kept quiet and let him proceed in his own way. She wasn't going to push.

Kenny stared at himself in the mirror for quite some time, trying to figure out how he should proceed. He knew what he had said about her being his girl hadn't escaped her attention. He hadn't really meant to say it. It just sort of slipped out, but after he said it, it never felt truer. He didn't know how or when, but somewhere along the way, he had developed feelings for her. Maybe he had felt it the first time he saw her, but he hadn't been ready then to act upon those feelings because he was still mourning the loss of his wife and son. But when he heard her walk into the ladies' room next door followed by a gunshot, his blood had run cold, and when he saw her unharmed, that's when he realized that life was short, especially now. If he wanted to keep her, he was going to have to act upon his feelings now. But there was one thing he had to do before he even thought about getting into another relationship. She had told him about her past the first day they met. Now it was his turn.

He took a deep breath before he began. "I had a family before all this. I had a wife, her name was Katjaa, and we had a son, not much older than Clementine. We called him Duck. They were everything to me. They were my whole world. My sole purpose in this world was to protect them. It wasn't enough though." He paused as he once again rubbed a hand down his face, steeling himself for the next part of the story.

"Duck got bitten just before we got to Savannah. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. I thought maybe he was different, maybe he wouldn't turn, maybe he would be fine, but Katjaa told me I was being foolish. She convinced me that we had to take care of him, that we couldn't let him become…" He couldn't finish the sentence as he felt hot tears spring to his eyes and run down his cheeks. He took a few minutes to compose himself enough to continue on.

"Lee, thank god, offered to do it. And I will always be grateful to him for that because I don't think I could have. Katjaa and I took him into the woods to say good-bye, and Kat…I guess she couldn't handle it. She took my gun and shot herself in the head right in front of me." Tears were flowing freely down his face now as all the pain from that day resurfaced. "Lee took care of Duck, and I was suddenly alone. Even when I was with other people, I still felt alone. I was a mess after that. I didn't want to think about what happened, so I focused on something else, finding a boat. I guess that's why I was so adamant about it. It kept my mind off what happened."

"Oh god, Kenny. I'm so sorry," Cassie said, feeling tears in her own eyes upon hearing what the man had been through before they met. She couldn't imagine what that must have been like. Yes, it had been hard for her when she lost her unborn child, but having to watch your young son die slowly as he turns into a ravenous undead creature was something else entirely. Then to see your wife commit suicide in front of you just made it even more horrific.

Kenny put a hand over his eyes and rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger. "That's the first time I've spoken about what happened to them. For a long time, I didn't even want to think about it let alone talk about it."

"So why now? And why with me?" she asked, curious.

Kenny let his arms fall by his side as he turned to face her. "I never thought I'd love anyone after Katjaa. Until now. When I heard that gunshot and thought you'd been hurt or worse, it almost killed me. And I realized that I don't want to lose you like I lost them…because I love you."

Cassie looked at him wide-eyed as she tried to process what he just said. _Wow, he loves me,_ she thought, and she suddenly felt all warm and giddy inside. She had a feeling that he had a thing for her when they first met, but she had been waiting for him to make the first move because she could sense that he had a lot of baggage that he had to work through before he would even be ready for a relationship. And she had been right. He did have a lot of baggage. But he was apparently ready to move on, and it was at that moment that she realized she liked him back despite the fact that he could be a stubborn hothead sometimes. She, however, took the time to see past his rough exterior to the good and loyal man underneath, and she liked what she saw.

She smiled as Kenny moved forward and gave her a deep, passionate kiss. Her heart pounding, she returned the kiss whole-heartedly. They started groping each other as they got lost in a moment that seemed to last forever until they both had to come up for air.

"Wow," Cassie said breathlessly. "That was nice." She laughed as she rubbed her upper lip a little bit. "And your mustache tickles."

Kenny chuckled. "Yeah, Kat used to say that too. I'll shave it off if you want me to."

"Oh no, no, no," she said as she shook her head. "Don't go changing yourself on my account. I'll just get used to it. It's kind of nice actually."

"Yeah?" Kenny said with a grin.

"Yeah," Cassie laughed. She had never seen him this happy before, and she felt elated that she was the reason he was happy now. "Well, we should probably go before they start to wonder what we're doing in here."

"Oh, I think Lee had a pretty good idea what we're doing in here," Kenny said.

Cassie sighed and shook her head. "I think that man is too smart for his own good sometimes."

"Hey, I, for one, am glad he's smart," Kenny said as he put his arm around her shoulders and started leading her toward the door. "Because we wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

"Touché."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Ambush

Sixteen Months Later

The four survivors had been traveling through the Carolina woods for days now and had decided to make camp for the night so they could cook up some food. They had been traveling almost nonstop for about two years now with no real set place to go. Then about a week ago, they came across a man-made sign in the last town they were in telling about a safe place called Wellington up near Michigan. They had talked it over and decided that it was worth checking out if it was safe from walkers. They had no set destination in mind anyway. All they knew was that it was best to keep moving if they wanted to stay alive, and as long as they were moving, they might as well move up north. If they happen to come across Wellington while they were moving up north, then that was a plus. If not, then they would just keep moving like they always did.

While Kenny and Lee were getting a fire going, Cassie decided to take Clementine aside and teach her some karate moves to help her better defend herself. She had been teaching the 11-year-old for about a month now, and she was really starting to get the hang of it, although she was far from a black belt. They were performing some basic karate moves in synch, and Cassie was pleased to see that Clementine had performed each move perfectly.

"Looking good, Clem. You're really getting the hang of this," Cassie praised.

Clementine smiled. "Really? You really think so?"

"Oh yeah. You'll be kicking ass in no time."

Clementine blushed in modesty. It was a few minutes before she spoke again. "Cassie? I was wondering. Why am I learning this? I mean, it's not like punching a walker is going to do any good."

Cassie grimaced as she remembered a guy she once knew. He had punched a walker in the face. Of course, he had the misfortune of punching it directly in the mouth and cut his knuckles on its teeth. He ended up turning, and she had to take care of him. That's why she never punched a walker in the face.

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend that," she said. "But you know what? Your legs are your greatest weapon."

"Huh?" Clementine said, confused. She would have thought her knife or her gun would be her greatest weapons.

"You're not always going to have weapons on you. There's going to be a time where you'll be without weapons," Cassie explained. "Say you have a walker coming at you and you don't have any sort of weapon on you for whatever reason. One swift kick to the head or stomach will send that thing stumbling backwards, giving you enough time to either find a weapon or run like hell."

Clementine nodded in understanding. She hadn't thought about that.

"Here's a little tip," Cassie continued as she leaned right down close to the little girl. "Kick it in the leg, specifically the knee. It'll fall like a ton of bricks, and then you can easily stab it in the back of the head. Perfect strategy for someone as small as you."

Clementine smiled. "Kick it in the knee, then stab it in the head. Got it. I'll have to try that sometime."

"Good girl," Cassie praised as she stood up straight. "Besides, this is for self defense against people more than walkers. Not everyone is going to be as nice as us, and you have to be able to defend yourself against them. You get it?"

Clementine nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Do you think I'll ever be as good as you?"

"Sure you will, Clem," Cassie replied, patting her on the shoulder. "You keep practicing, and one day you'll be able to do something like this." She took a few steps back from Clementine. Then, she jumped up and executed a perfect 360 spinning heel kick, which had Clem staring at her with wide eyes.

"Wow," Clementine breathed. "Can I try that?"

"I don't know, Clem. That might be a little too advanced for you," Cassie said doubtfully.

"Please?" Clementine said, giving her the sad puppy dog eyes that she had perfected over the past two years. No one could say no to those eyes, and she knew it.

Cassie sighed. "Alright, but let's forego the jump. Let's do this with your feet firmly planted on the ground."

Clementine nodded in agreement, and Cassie proceeded to instruct her on how to do a spin kick. Clementine listened carefully to the instructions Cassie was giving her and did what she was told to do.

"Ok, you ready to give it a try?" Cassie asked.

"I think so," Clementine replied uncertainly. Even though she had listened closely to Cassie's directions, she wasn't quite sure she had it down just yet.

"Go for it."

Clementine took a fighting stance and remembering Cassie's instructions, tried to perform a spin kick. She pivoted on her left leg and kicked out with her right. Unfortunately, she put a little too much force into her kick, and she ended up spinning too much, which caused her to lose her balance. She fell flat on her back with an "oof".

"Oh, Clem, are you ok?" Cassie asked as she knelt down next to her.

Clementine sat up, dusting herself off. "Yeah, I'm alright," she replied, a bit annoyed and embarrassed at having failed so miserably. "Guess I'm not ready for that yet, huh?"

Cassie smiled lightly. "Don't worry. You will be soon enough. Give it time," she reassured as she helped Clementine back to her feet. "C'mon. We better get back to camp. Hopefully, the guys will have that fire going. I'm starving."

"Me too."

The two girls made their way back to camp where they found Kenny sitting on a log and Lee still trying to get the fire going, but by the looks of things, he wasn't having much luck. The flames were way to low to cook the weasel they had caught a little while ago, and there was more smoke than fire really.

Kenny turned toward them and smiled. "Hey girls. How did it go?"

"Good," Cassie replied as she sat down on the ground in front of Kenny and leaned back against him as he wrapped his arms around her. "Clem's getting a lot better."

"Oh yeah? Way to go, Clem," Kenny praised.

"Thanks," Clementine said rather sadly as she sat down on the log next to Kenny, which caught Lee's attention immediately.

"What's wrong, Clem?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just tried to do a spin kick and I fell," Clementine answered, looking down at her feet.

"Aw, I'm sorry, sweet pea. Are you ok?" Lee asked as he stoked the fire once more, which didn't seem to do any good.

"Yeah. I'm just mad at myself for messing up."

"Don't be," Cassie spoke up. "It was a complicated move. You'll get there eventually."

"You should listen to her, darlin'. My girl knows what she's talking about," Kenny said.

Cassie looked up at him with a smile. "Why do you have to keep calling me your girl?" she asked lightly.

"You know you like it," he said.

"I never said I did," she said, feigning annoyance, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"Oh yeah? Well, do you like this?" Kenny asked with a grin as he started tickling Cassie in the ribs.

She jumped with a yelp. "Kenny!" she laughed, but he kept tickling. She was laughing hysterically as she tried to get him to stop.

Lee watched as they fooled around and laughed, and he couldn't help but smile himself. They had been a couple ever since that day at the truck stop, and Lee had never seen Kenny happier. Ever since he had walked out of that restroom, he had been different. He was more relaxed. He no longer seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Lee knew it was because of Cassie. There was just something about her that brought out the best in Kenny.

Cassie had sort of a bubbly personality. She liked to joke and fool around sometimes, and despite all the hardships they had faced, she still kept this optimistic attitude, which was refreshing in this day and age. In serious situations though, she had a stubborn, no nonsense attitude and even a mean streak when it came to people trying to hurt or steal from them. She didn't get angry easily, but when she did, she could really kick ass, which made Lee glad that she was on their side. He was happy for them. He thought they made a cute couple, and Kenny deserved some happiness after everything he had been through.

Lee then turned his eyes to Clementine. She had really grown a lot in the past two years. Gone were the sleeveless dress and leggings she had been wearing, having outgrown them long ago. Now she wore grayish blue jeans, purple tennis shoes, and a purple and white striped long-sleeved shirt with a purple t-shirt over it. He frowned, however, as he realized she was the only one not wearing a jacket. Cassie was still wearing the black leather jacket she had when they had first met her, only now she had on a blue t-shirt underneath instead of the tank top. Kenny had a green army coat he had found at a thrift store, and Lee was wearing a brown leather jacket. Clementine, unfortunately, had outgrown the jacket she had, and they hadn't had a chance to find her a new one. He made a mental note to find her one soon, since it was only going to get colder the further north they went.

As if reading his thoughts, Clementine shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm freezing," she muttered as she rubbed her arms to try to warm herself.

"Here," Lee said as he put the stick down and sat down on the log next to her. He wrapped his arm around her thin shoulders and pulled her in close, trying to use his own body heat to warm her. "That better?"

Clementine smiled up at her guardian and nodded. "Yeah, thank you." After a moment of silence, she spoke up again, asking the question that had been on her mind for a while now. "Lee? Do you think Wellington is really out there?"

"I don't know, sweet pea. I hope so."

"I know it's out there. I can feel it," Kenny said with conviction. "Why else would there be so many posters pointing us right to it?"

"Well, it could be someone's idea of a sick joke," Cassie chimed in. "Or it could be a trap leading us to our deaths."

Kenny looked down at her. "Ain't you a ray of sunshine," he said sarcastically. "Why are you so negative all of a sudden? You're the one who's always telling us to never give up hope."

Cassie laughed at having her own words thrown back at her. "Yes, and I never said I was giving up hope. I have just as much hope as you do that it is really out there, that it is a real place, but I also know that there is a very real possibility that it could be bullshit. I'm just going through the possibilities."

"You're both right," Lee said. "We have to hope that it is out there, but we also have to be ready for the possibility that it isn't."

Kenny sighed. The fact that Wellington might not be out there didn't sit well with him. Ever since they found out about the safe haven that is Wellington, he felt like there just might be a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. It gave him something to shoot for, for the first time in years. But he also knew that Cassie and Lee were right. They had to be ready in case it wasn't real.

"Alright. I guess you guys are right," Kenny said, downtrodden.

Cassie leaned her head back so she could look at him. "Aw, don't look so glum. I'm sure it's out there, and we're not going to stop looking. Remember, never give up hope."

Kenny smiled and gave her a quick kiss. "Thank you, hon."

"You're welcome."

Kenny looked at the fire and noticed that the flames were pretty low again. "Hey Lee. Don't look now, but I think the fire is about to go out."

"Oh crap," Lee muttered as he stood and threw another log into the fire. He poked at the somewhat burnt logs with the stick again, but the flames still weren't high enough to cook the weasel. "Damn it. This wood is too wet to burn."

"Need some help?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah. Make sure the fire doesn't go out while I go look for more wood."

"Sure, pal," Kenny said as he stood up and took the stick from Lee.

Lee trekked into the woods little ways away from their campsite, all the while searching for pieces of wood that were even remotely dry. Of course, with the rain they'd been getting for the past few hours, the chances of that were slim to none, but he still had to try. He found a few sticks and logs, but they were all way too wet. Burning those would produce more smoke than flame, which was the last thing they needed right now, nothing like a smoke signal to bring every living person within a five-mile radius straight to them. He kept moving, always keeping one eye on the trees around him as he walked. It looked like there were only trees and bushes and plant life, but you never know where a walker might be hiding out.

He finally found a somewhat dry log sitting under the shelter of a bush nearby and smiled. Now that would do nicely. He knelt down and reached out to grab it when he heard a loud twig snap from somewhere in front of him. He paused and stared straight ahead of him where the sound had originated from. But everything looked the same, and all he saw were trees and rain-drenched leaves. But he knew someone or something was out there. He began to slowly reach behind his back for his gun until he heard the loud click of a gun being cocked right behind him. He felt the muzzle of the gun right against the back of his head before he could turn around. He sighed in resignation, knowing he had been caught.

"Don't move," a low voice growled behind him. "Take your hand away from the gun."

Lee did as he was told as he raised both of his hands in the air. He felt the gun being pulled from his waistband and then heard the gun hit the dirt ground somewhere to his right as the man threw it aside.

"Now, stand up," the man ordered.

Lee slowly got his feet, his hands still raised, as two more men emerged from the trees. One of them was a tall white guy with a shaved head and brown eyes. He was dressed in blue jeans and a green army jacket, and he carried a 9mm berretta. The other guy was African American a little shorter than his buddy with short dread locks. He was dressed in black jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Skinhead said with an evil gleam in his eye. "Check him. Make sure he doesn't have anything else on him."

Dread Locks moved forward and started patting Lee down like a cop searching a suspect. He found a mean looking knife with a serrated edge. A long time ago, Cassie had insisted that they all carry a knife as well as a gun so they have something they could use against walkers that wouldn't make a lot of noise. Lee had found that little beauty at a weapons shop they had found a year ago. It had served him well, and he didn't like someone else taking it from him.

"Oh, this is nice," Dread Locks said as he swung it back and forth to get a feel for it. "I think I'll keep this for myself."

He slowly moved behind Lee as he pocketed the knife, while the third guy moved in front of him, allowing him a good look. He was also white with short brown hair, a full beard, and green eyes. He was dressed in blue jeans, black long-sleeved shirt, and a green army vest. He was also holding a 9mm on Lee.

"That's all he had on him?" Bearded Man asked.

"Yeah, that's it," Dread Locks answered.

Bearded Man looked at Lee with narrowed eyes. "No, no way he got all the way out here with just that. Where's your camp?"

"I don't have a camp," Lee lied. No way was he going to tell them anything. He wasn't about to lead these three bandits to his friends if he could help it.

"Bullshit," Skinhead said. "Where is it? Where's your group?"

"I told you. I don't have a camp. It's just me."

Lee watched as the three men looked at one another. Judging by the suspicious looks he was getting, he knew they didn't buy his story. He knew he had to think of something or he was going to end up dead or worse and they would eventually find the others anyway. But before he could think of something, Skinhead was suddenly hit in the face with a rock.

"What the fuck!?" he spluttered as all four men turned to look in the direction the rock had come from.

Lee's heart jumped into his throat when he saw Clementine standing there.

"Lee! Run!" Clementine shouted as she turned in the opposite direction and disappeared into the trees.

"Clementine!" Lee cried.

"Son of a bitch!" Skinhead yelled angrily as he took off after the little girl.

Lee's heart thudded in fear as he watched the bald-headed man disappear into the trees after Clementine. More determined than ever not to let these men get a hold of her, Lee took full advantage of the distraction Clementine had provided. He elbowed Dread Locks behind him in the gut, and then punched the bearded man in the face hard, causing him to drop his gun and knocking him out cold. Lee then spun around and tackled Dread Locks before he could recover.

They hit the cold, wet ground hard with Lee on top of the man. Lee punched him in the face several times before Dread Locks managed to send a fist flying at Lee's face, sending him falling backwards. Dread Locks was on top of Lee in a matter of seconds and started delivering a few punches of his own. Lee felt every sting of every punch to his face, but he stayed strong and managed to roll him over so that he ended up top once again. Then, alternating fists, he started punching him in the face over and over again until his knuckles were bloody. He was so focused on fighting this guy however, that he failed to notice that the other man had regained consciousness until he felt a hard blow to the back of his head.

He collapsed to the ground, his vision going black for a moment as pain exploded throughout his entire skull. He regained his senses not long afterwards though as he looked up at Bearded Man as he threw a large stick to the side, presumably the weapon used to hit Lee over the head. His eyesight was extremely blurry and he felt like his head was spinning like a top. He blinked a few times to try to clear his vision as he watched the man pick up his gun where he had dropped it and walk back over to him. Lee knew that he should get up and fight back, but his arms and legs felt like lead as he watched the man point the gun at his head.

"You should have told me where your camp was," Bearded Man said coldly. "I might have let you live."

Lee knew this was it. This was how he was going to die, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about. And that made him mad, not because he was going to die, but because he had failed to protect Clementine. Now he was going to die without knowing if she was ok or not. He closed his eyes waiting for the pain that would come from a bullet to the brain. But instead of a gunshot, he heard a grunt following by a loud thud. He opened his eyes and saw Kenny straddling the bearded man and punching him repeatedly in the face.

"You motherfucker! I'll teach you to fuck with us!" Kenny screamed as he continued to hit him.

Lee half smiled as he slowly sat up slightly so he was leaning on his elbows. He watched as the man pushed Kenny off him and got to his feet. Lee noticed that he didn't have the gun anymore. He looked around and noticed the gun lying near his feet. He must have dropped it when Kenny tackled him. He knew he had to help Kenny as he watched the two men trading blows, but before he could even try to reach the fallen gun, he felt a sharp white-hot pain in his shoulder. He screamed as he fell back to the ground. He looked down and saw his own knife was embedded deep in his shoulder, and above him, he saw Dread Locks was now straddling him, his hand on the knife handle. His face was bruised and bloody, and his right eye was swollen shut. Lee could still tell though by the look on his face that he was pissed as he yanked the knife out with a spray of blood. He then lifted the knife up above his head, intending to stab Lee a second time, but Lee was able to catch his arm as he was bringing the knife down once again. He struggled to keep the blade of the knife away from his chest, but with the stab wound in his shoulder bleeding profusely and the blow to his head, he didn't have much strength left. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold it at bay.

Kenny, meanwhile, had just gotten the upper hand on the bearded man when he heard Lee's agonized scream. With wide eyes, he looked toward Lee, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the other man on top of his best friend trying to stab him in the chest. Lee was struggling to keep the knife away from his chest, but it didn't look like he could hold it for much longer.

 _No,_ Kenny thought. He couldn't let Lee down like he had with so many others. He was about to go help him, when the bearded man tackled him to the ground. He got on top of Kenny, wrapped his fingers around his throat, and started strangling him. Suddenly without oxygen, Kenny's fingers clumsily tried to pry the man's hands from around his throat to no avail. He was just too strong, and with the murderous gleam in his eye, Kenny knew that he wasn't going to stop until he was dead. His lungs burning with the need for precious oxygen, Kenny looked over at Lee who was in a fight of his own, a fight he was quickly losing. And he knew what he had to do. He reached blindly down to his belt and pulled out his dagger, the one Cassie had given him when they first met. Gripping the knife firmly in his hand, he plunged the blade deep into the man's stomach. He felt warm, sticky blood soak through his shirt as the man's eyes widened in shock and pain, and his grip loosened on Kenny's neck. Kenny coughed and took in great gulps of much needed air as he pushed the man off of him.

He didn't even look at the damage he had done as he quickly turned and ran toward Lee. Without hesitation, he stabbed the man in the back of the head as if he were a walker he was dispatching. He then pushed the now dead corpse aside so he wouldn't fall on top of Lee. Breathing heavily, Kenny knelt down next to a panting Lee as he lay on the ground with his eyes closed trying to catch his breath. He looked absolutely spent.

"Lee? Lee, can you hear me, pal?" Kenny asked.

It was full minute before Lee answered with a shaky, "Yeah, I hear you." He opened his eyes and looked at his friend. "Thanks."

"No problem," Kenny replied. He looked at Lee's shoulder with a worried frown. The wound looked extremely ragged and was still bleeding pretty badly. He also noticed the decent size puddle of blood on the ground next to Lee, which worried him even more. He had already lost so much blood. If he didn't patch Lee up soon, he might not make it. "Man, he got you good," he said, trying to sound casual, but his voice trembled slightly, giving him away.

Lee looked down at his wound and all the blood. He knew it was bad, and he knew Kenny knew it was bad, but he tried to put on a brave front. "Yeah, with my own god damn knife," he said as he tried to sit up. He cried out as the pain intensified when he moved.

"Whoa, easy," Kenny said as he supported his friend before he could fall back to the ground. "Take it slow. I don't need you passing out on me."

"No, I'm fine," Lee said stubbornly as he continued to try to stand with Kenny's help. "One of those assholes went after Clementine. We have to find her."

"It's ok. Cassie went after Clementine. If anyone can protect her, it's her. We gotta take care of you first."

"No," Lee argued, shaking his head, which was an admittedly stupid thing to do as he was still dizzy either from the head injury or blood loss, he didn't know, but it almost sent him falling back to the ground once again. If not for Kenny's support, he would have. "I have to find her. I have to make sure she's ok."

"You're not going to do her any good if you bleed to death," Kenny pointed out, refusing to let Lee go charging off into the woods without tending to his wound because he knew that would be the death of his best friend. He wasn't going to allow that. He couldn't lose Lee now. "Now, look. Let's get back to camp, I'll fix up your wound, and then we can go look for Clementine. Alright?"

Lee looked at Kenny and sighed. He knew Kenny was right. With his shoulder bleeding the way it was, there was no way he'd get very far to find Clementine. They had to treat it now before it got worse. He just hoped Clementine would be alright until he could get to her.

"Alright. Let's go," he said grudgingly, making sure to get his knife and gun back before they made their way back to camp.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Runners

Running. It used to be one of Cassie's favorite past-times. There had been a forest preserve with a paved path running through it that Cassie went to whenever she got the chance. She used to love running through that forest, following the path, and not just for the exercise but for the joy and peace that it brought to her. When she was running, she had no worries, no responsibilities. It was just her and the path. There was nothing to distract her. There was just the sound of her feet hitting the pavement, her steady breathing, the wind rustling through the trees, and birds chirping overhead. It was exhilarating.

Nowadays, running didn't have the same appeal to her, mostly because she was running for her life, either from walkers or bandits. At this moment, though, she was running for a different reason. She was running to save the life of a little girl she had grown close to for the past two years.

Clementine.

She could remember the way her stomach dropped when she and Kenny had heard Clementine yelling for Lee to run. They had both jumped up, grabbed their weapons, and ran in the direction they had heard her yell. Why Lee had gone so far into the forest to look for firewood, Cassie didn't know, but by the time they got there, Lee was on the ground looking dazed, and there was man standing over him pointing a gun at Lee's forehead. She had been worried about Lee for sure, but she had also been worried about Clementine, who was nowhere to be seen. So, she told Kenny to go help Lee while she looked for Clem.

She didn't know anything about tracking people, but she did know how to hunt. It was something that you needed to learn in an apocalyptic world like this. But she didn't need to be an expert tracker to find Clementine's trail. With all the rain they'd been getting, her small footprints were easy to find in the soft ground, and so were the larger footprints of a man chasing her. Cassie had quickly followed the trail and got there just in time to see Clementine disappear over a steep ravine as walkers were closing in around her.

Her heart doing a somersault in her chest, Cassie had prayed that the ravine wasn't that steep and that Clementine would be ok as she took out her throwing knives. She had hesitated as they were the last of the throwing knives that she had left but only for a moment. She could see out of the corner of her eye the man that was being devoured somewhere off to her right, and she didn't want draw the attention of those walkers too. So, she had used her throwing knives to dispatch the walkers in front of her one by one, quickly and quietly. Then, she had run to the edge of the ravine and looked down to see a raging river and no sign of Clementine.

So, she had followed the river's current, which was why she was running through the forest now, keeping an eye on both sides of the river, looking for any place where Clementine could have swum to shore. Unfortunately, all she saw were steep, rocky ravines on both sides. So, she kept running, hoping that the little girl hadn't drowned. It had stopped raining by this time, but her jeans were still soaked and caked in mud as she splashed through puddles and even waded through swamp-like terrain. Not even an approaching walker slowed her down. She just took out her knife and slashed it across the face as she ran by, not even stopping to see if she killed it or just sliced off its nose.

Finally, she came upon a shoreline. It was surrounded by sort of a cul de sac of rock, but it was definitely a place where Clementine could have crawled out of the water. And sure enough, as Cassie got close, she saw her. Clementine was lying, unmoving, face down in the mud, half in and half out of the water. There was a wooden staircase that looked like it had once provided access to the shore, but the bottom half of the stairs was gone. That didn't deter Cassie, however. She just ran to the edge of the broken stairs and then used it to climb down to the shore. She reached Clementine's side, just as the little girl was beginning to stir.

"Clementine! Are you ok?" Cassie asked worriedly.

Clementine's eyes blinked open, and her golden gaze met Cassie's. "Cassie?" she said dazedly as she slowly pushed herself up. "Ow!" she cried, clutching her stomach as she sat back on her haunches.

"What is it? Does your stomach hurt?" At Clementine's nod, Cassie moved forward. "Here, let me take a look." She gently lifted Clementine's shirt to reveal an array of deep purple bruises all across her stomach. "Oh yeah. You've got some spectacular bruising, but it doesn't look serious. You should be fine. Does anything else hurt?"

Clementine shook her head. "No. I'm just cold," she said as she wrapped her arms around herself with a shiver.

"Here," Cassie said as she took off her leather jacket and draped it around Clementine's small form. Then she proceeded to the roll the sleeves up so the little girl's hands wouldn't be lost in the oversized sleeves.

"Thank you," Clementine said gratefully, already beginning to feel warmer. Her eyes widened, however, as she remembered how she had gotten into this mess in the first place. "Lee! Is he ok? He was being attacked."

"It's ok. Kenny went to help him. I'm sure they're both fine," Cassie reassured. She was confident her boyfriend was able to help Lee, and they were probably out looking for her and Clementine at that very moment.

"Are you sure?" Clementine asked, afraid for the man who was like a father to her.

"I'm positive. Lee is Kenny's best friend. He wouldn't let anything happen to him. Now, come on. Let's head back. They're probably worried sick about us."

She helped Clementine to her feet, and they both walked back to the broken staircase. Cassie gave Clementine a boost up onto the landing and then climbed up herself. She then led the way back through the forest in the direction from which she had made her mad dash. Admittedly, she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going at the time, but she had been following the river. So, all they had to do was follow it back to camp. As they were walking, however, they heard this inhuman scream cut through the air like a knife. They both froze in their tracks, looking at one another fearfully, both knowing what that sound meant.

"Shit," Cassie swore.

"Runners," Clementine said, her voice trembling a little.

"Yeah," Cassie sighed.

They had been running into those a lot lately. She could still remember the first time they had come across one. They had just finished gathering supplies from a convenience store in a small town when they spotted what they thought was a walker in the distance. It was just standing there heaving great breaths, which they thought was weird. They had never seen one act that way before. Then, it turned toward them and let out this loud horrendous scream. Then it took off running toward them like a bat out of hell. Needless to say, they were all in shock as they had never seen one move so damn fast. Luckily, Lee had recovered from his shock fairly quickly and was able to shoot it when it was feet away from him. They didn't know what had made that one so special, but they thought it was just an isolated incident until they started running into more of them. So, they started calling them runners as they were definitely not walkers.

Clementine swallowed hard as her head swiveled around in all directions looking for any danger. She absolutely hated runners. They terrified her beyond belief. Yes, she was afraid of walkers too, but she knew that she could either shoot or avoid them. She was faster and smarter than all of them. She knew she could outrun and out-maneuver them at any turn. But runners were a different story. They were faster than walkers, which made them harder to shoot and harder to avoid. She wasn't sure she was fast enough to outrun them, and she didn't have much experience shooting fast moving targets.

Cassie looked down at Clementine and noticed the frightened look on the young girl's face. "Let's just keep moving," she said. "That doesn't necessarily mean they're close by, just that they're in the area." Even though she was trying to sound reassuring for Clementine's sake, she still took out her gun as a precaution.

Clementine looked doubtful, but she nodded and continued walking. She kept looking around anyway just in case. Even though they do yell a lot, they don't always. They could also sneak up on you, and you wouldn't even know it until they're right there. That has happened a couple times, which was another thing about them that made Clementine nervous. She was glad that she kept a lookout though because she was able to spot one of them running at lightning speed from behind right toward Cassie.

"Cassie! Behind you!" Clementine shouted.

Cassie whirled around at Clementine's warning, but she didn't have enough time to bring her gun up to shoot as the thing was already on top of her. It tackled her to the ground, causing her to drop her gun. She was on the ground with the runner on top of her as she struggled to keep it at arm's length. God damn, the thing was strong! Staring the thing in the face, she noticed there was no decay or rotting flesh, no muscle or bone visible. Its hair, instead of being a stringy mess, was thick and tied tightly into a ponytail. It had obviously once been female. Aside from the milky white eyes, you'd never know that this thing was of the undead variety. Except that it had blood and bits of flesh clinging to its teeth, and blood dripping from its mouth as its jaws snapped a few times trying to take a bite out of her.

"Clementine! Kill it!" she yelled as she continued to hold it back, but she knew she couldn't for much longer.

Clementine, however, was way ahead of her as she searched her pockets for the knife Cassie had given her. She was dismayed when she couldn't find it. She realized she must have lost it in the river. Cursing under her breath, she looked around frantically for something she could use. She saw Cassie's gun lying nearby and quickly picked it up. She aimed at the runner's head and fired. Blood splattered across Cassie's face as the thing went limp and she was able to push it off of her.

"Fuck," Cassie muttered as she got to her feet. "Thanks."

Clementine nodded and then her eyes widened as she saw another one running towards them. "There's another one."

Cassie turned around. "I got this one," she said as she pulled out her dagger. She waited for it to get closer before kicking it in the chest and sending it sprawling to the ground. Then she stabbed it in the forehead with a sickening squish. You never get used to that sound.

While Cassie was dealing with that one, Clementine saw another one running towards her friend. She quickly took aim and fired but missed completely. The sound of the gunshot, however, caused the runner to stop and turn toward Clementine instead. Horrified, she started backing away, unsure what to do next. She stopped though when she saw Cassie come up behind it and stab it in the back of the head.

As the runner fell to the ground dead, Cassie looked at Clementine. "Look out!" she shouted.

Clementine turned around and saw another one of them coming towards her. Thinking fast, she sidestepped to her right just as it was lunging for her. It stumbled past her, and she turned and kicked it in the back of the knee. It crumpled to the ground like a ton of bricks, giving her the chance to shoot it in the back of the head.

"Hey," Cassie said as she approached. "You did the knee thing. Told you it would work."

"Yeah," Clementine said with a slight smile. She looked at down the one she had just killed, realizing just then that maybe she could out-maneuver them like she could the walkers. It won't be as easy, but it was possible. The runners may be faster, but she was still smarter.

"You did good, Clem. And thanks for saving my ass," Cassie said, patting her on the back.

"You're welcome, but…"

"But what?"

"I missed that one," Clementine replied, lowering her gaze. "I tried to shoot it, and I missed."

"Don't sweat it. You just haven't had a lot of experience shooting fast-moving targets. You just need practice. Besides, your gunshot did distract it long enough for me to kill it. It all worked out in the end."

Clementine met Cassie's gaze. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said, a smile forming on her face once again.

Another scream of a runner filled the air, and they both looked around, looking for the source.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Cassie said in annoyance.

"How many of these things are in this forest?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know. But I vote we not stick around to find out. If we get surrounded by these things, we're fucked. C'mon. We need to find the guys."

They both took off running through the trees, hoping they wouldn't run into anymore of them before they found Lee and Kenny.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Making a Stand

Lee shivered slightly as the cold, moist air hit his exposed flesh, having had to take off his jacket and half his shirt so Kenny could get a good look at his wound. Thank god, he had been wearing a button-down shirt; otherwise he would have had to take off his shirt completely. Then he'd really be cold.

They had reached their campsite without incident, and Kenny had sat Lee down on the log while he retrieved what little medical supplies they had left. They decided to appoint Kenny as their medic for the group because he had the most experience in dealing with wounds, however little that was. Katjaa had acted as the doctor of the group back at the motor inn. She taught him the basics of first aid, and he had even assisted her on a few occasions. So, he knew how to treat cuts and bruises, gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and even broken bones. Of course, he kind of got a crash course in that last one a year ago when Clementine had fallen down a flight of stairs running from walkers and broke her arm. Lee had never been so scared in his entire life as he was that day.

Lee watched, and winced, as Kenny poked and prodded the wound, trying to determine the seriousness of it. Lee could care less how serious it was though. He wished Kenny would just hurry up and patch it up already so they could get out there and find Clementine. He hoped to god that asshole didn't get his hands on her.

"Shit. This is going to need stitches," Kenny remarked.

"So, do it," Lee snapped a bit more harshly than he'd intended.

"Well, I'd love to except I don't have the supplies to do it," Kenny snapped back. He sighed, knowing that Lee was just tense because he was worried about Clementine. He continued in a calmer tone. "Look, the best I can do right now is slow the bleeding, clean the wound, and bandage it up, but if it doesn't get stitched up soon, it's just going to get worse."

"Do what you can," Lee sighed. He hadn't meant to snap. He was just anxious to get out there and find Clementine.

"I know you're worried about Clementine," Kenny said as he pulled out a fresh gauze pad and pressed it against the wound, causing Lee to wince slightly. "But she's a tough little girl. She can take care of herself. Besides, I'm sure Cassie will take good care of her until we find them."

Lee looked at Kenny. "Aren't you worried about Cassie? I mean after what happened to Katjaa and Duck, I would have thought you'd be extremely protective of her."

Kenny took a deep breath as he removed the gauze pad to see if the bleeding had stopped yet. Seeing that it hadn't yet, he put it back in place and put a bit more pressure on it. "I was at first, remember?" he replied as he met Lee's gaze with a slight smile.

"Oh yeah," Lee said as he thought back to the days when Kenny and Cassie had first started dating. "We were in that small town searching for supplies. Cassie wanted to search this house by herself, and you told her no it's too dangerous. She didn't seem so happy about that."

"She wasn't," Kenny said. "Needless to say, she took me aside and gave me a talking to. She basically told me that if this relationship was going to work, I was going to have to learn to trust her to take care of herself because I can't always be there to protect her 24/7, and I was either going to get myself, her, or someone else killed trying."

"I was wondering what that talk was about," Lee said.

"Yeah," Kenny said as he checked on the wound once again. Satisfied that the bleeding had slowed enough, he took out a bottle of peroxide and looked Lee in the eye. Now came the hard part. "Uh…this is going to hurt like hell."

"Well, you don't have to sugarcoat it," Lee said sarcastically. "Just get it over with."

Kenny carefully poured some peroxide on the ragged hole. Lee cried out in pain as he tried with all his might not just jerk out of his seat. He could hear the sizzling in his wound, indicating that the peroxide was doing its job, but man did it hurt like a bitch.

Kenny looked on in sympathy. He decided to continue their earlier conversation to try to get Lee's mind off of the pain. "Anyway, what can I say?" he said as he took out some fresh bandages and started to bandage the wound. "She made some sense, and I've tried my best not to prohibit her from doing what she wants. Notice I haven't done anything like that since. Not saying I ain't worried, because I am, but I've also learned to trust in her abilities. Now you've got to do the same thing with Clementine."

"That's different. She's just a little girl," Lee said.

"Yes, a little girl who's been living in this world for two years just like the rest of us. We've all been teaching her how to survive, how to take care of herself, and isn't this the reason? In case something ever happens where she ends up on her own? She's not that eight-year-old girl you found hiding in a tree house anymore."

Lee opened his mouth to protest but closed it with a sigh as he realized that Kenny was right. Clementine was growing up, becoming more independent. She was soaking up everything they had been teaching her like a sponge. She was pretty proficient with a gun and a knife. She knew how to scavenge for supplies and what to look for. She even knew some basic first aid in case she needed to patch up a wound by herself.

"I guess you're right," Lee admitted.

"I know I'm right, pal."

"Jeez, when did you become the voice of reason?"

"I don't know. I guess Cassie's rubbing off on me," Kenny replied with a smirk as he put the finishing touches on the bandage. "There. That should do it. For now, at least."

Lee looked down at the swath of bandages encircling his entire shoulder. He moved his arm around a little bit. It still throbbed, and the pain intensified slightly when he moved his arm. Too bad they didn't have any pain meds for that, but it wasn't enough to hinder his movement.

"Thanks," Lee said as he very carefully slid his shirt over the wound and started to button it back up. The blood on his shirt had dried somewhat by now and was slightly stiff. He knew that was going to become uncomfortable before too long, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"No problem. Just take it easy. Any stress on that wound could cause it to bleed again," Kenny said as he started stuffing the medical supplies back into his pack.

Lee stood up slowly and grabbed his jacket. In the time it took him to put the jacket on, Kenny had already had the supplies packed away, slung his backpack on his back, made sure the fire was completely out, and grabbed Cassie's, Lee's, and Clementine's backpacks. When he saw that Lee was ready, he handed him his backpack.

"You good to carry this?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lee replied as he accepted the backpack and slung it over his uninjured shoulder. "I still have one good shoulder. Let me have Clementine's."

"Are you sure?" he asked as he started to hand over the small pack.

Lee gave him an annoyed look as he grabbed the backpack. "Kenny, it's not like it weighs a ton. I'll be fine. Now let's get going. I want to find the girls before it gets dark."

They left the campsite in the direction Lee had seen Clementine run off. Following the tracks, which were still pretty fresh, it didn't take them long to find the skinhead, or what was left of him. His stomach had been ripped open and was now completely hollow. Blood and entrails painted the ground red. His arms and legs had been ripped off and were strewn about. He had literally been torn to pieces. It was a gory sight, indeed, but neither Kenny nor Lee felt the least bit sorry for him. He had been trying to hurt Clementine. He got what he deserved.

What Lee was worried about was where was Clementine. There was no sign of her here, which was good. She hadn't been caught by walkers, at least not these walkers. Lee saw several walkers lying on the ground and went to inspect them. They all had throwing knives through their heads. Definitely the work of Cassie. Obviously, Clementine hadn't been here when Cassie arrived. Otherwise, they would have been back by now. But then, where were they?

"Lee," Kenny called.

Lee looked up and saw Kenny kneeling at the edge of a drop off of some sort. Before going over to see what Kenny had found, he quickly collected the throwing knives from each of the walkers, knowing that Cassie would want them back. He then walked toward Kenny and saw that the drop off was actually a steep ravine leading to a raging river down below. He looked at Kenny who was inspecting the ground. "What's up?"

Kenny sighed as he stood up. "I think Clementine went over," he said, gesturing toward the ravine.

Lee's eyes widened. "What!"

"I think she went into the river."

"Oh, sweet Jesus," Lee muttered as he looked down at the fast-moving water. The thought of Clementine having to brave those rapids made his heart thud painfully in his chest. "That current is strong. It could have carried her anywhere."

"Fuck, I know," Kenny said as he rubbed his face with one hand. "Ok. All we gotta to do is follow the river and hope she was able to make it out. Cassie was here. She must have thought the same thing. Her tracks go this way."

They moved swiftly along the river, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of Clementine or Cassie. They stopped however when they heard the rustling of leaves nearby. Cursing under his breath, Lee quickly dropped both his and Clementine's backpacks on the ground and raised his gun as did Kenny. They could see the branches of a bush nearby moving, and they both trained their guns on it, unsure what could be moving around in there. It was a few tense moments before they got their answer as Cassie burst forth, tired and out of breath.

She looked at them and raised her hands when she saw two guns aimed at her. "Whoa, hey, it's me."

"Cassie," Kenny said in relief as he lowered his gun and pulled her in for a tight hug, glad that she was alright. "You ok? Where's Clementine?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, and she's right behind me."

A moment later, Clementine emerged, looking tired and cold, but otherwise unhurt. Lee had never been happier to see someone in his entire life.

"Clementine!" Lee exclaimed.

"Lee!" Clementine cried as she ran toward her guardian, happy to see he was ok.

Lee knelt down to her height and hugged her tight with his one good arm. He winced slightly as she unwittingly jostled his wound, but he shook it off as he just held her for a few minutes. He was worried at how cold her skin felt. He broke the hug and looked her in the eye.

"You ok, Clem?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a little cold," she said with a shiver.

"Yeah, this I can see. Your clothes are soaked. We're going to have to get you warmed up," Lee said as he stood up straight. He looked at Cassie. "Thank you for taking care of her."

"Forget it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but we've got bigger problems. We came across a bunch of runners earlier."

"Shit," Kenny cursed.

Lee closed his eyes. Runners were bad news. They were even worse than walkers and twice as dangerous. He didn't know if he had the energy to deal with them right now.

"We killed three, but I think there are more," Cassie explained.

As if on cue, a loud scream filled the air, signaling nearby runners. The four survivors huddled close together looking in all directions searching for the source.

"Like I said, I think there are more of them," Cassie said.

"So, what's the plan?" Lee asked.

"I say we kill the fuckers," Kenny said, cocking his gun.

"Really? That's your plan?" Cassie said as she looked at him.

"Yeah, you got any better suggestions?"

"I just think it's stupid us standing here waiting for them to swarm us. We have no idea how many of them are out there."

"What do you suggest? We can't outrun them, they're too fast, and it's not like there's any place to hide in this godforsaken forest."

"Knock it off, you two," Lee interrupted. Cassie and Kenny made a great couple, but like any normal couple, they had their arguments. Normally, Lee would let them hash it out themselves, but he didn't think now was the time to be arguing. Especially since he saw movement ahead of them. "I don't think it matters now." He stepped forward and raised his gun as a runner came bounding out the trees towards them. He pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through its forehead.

That seemed to have triggered a chain reaction as more runners almost seemed to appear out of nowhere from several different directions. Cassie, Lee, and Kenny were all firing at each one they saw, trying to keep them at bay and not let them get too close. Clementine stood behind Lee, feeling helpless as she didn't have a weapon on her. Then, she saw her backpack lying on the ground next to Lee. She quickly knelt down, unzipped her pack, and rummaged around inside until she found her gun. She turned around just in time to see a runner sprinting towards her. Kenny, Lee, and Cassie were so busy taking care of the ones in front of them, they didn't see the one coming behind them. With no time to aim properly, Clementine quickly raised her gun and fired. Luckily, she hit it in the head, but its momentum carried it forward, and it toppled on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She tried to push it off her, but the body was too heavy, she couldn't lift it. Her heart started pounding in fear as she saw walkers were now advancing on their position. They must have been attracted to the gunshots. She looked at the others and saw that they didn't know about the danger approaching from behind.

"Lee! Walkers!" Clementine yelled.

Lee turned around, and his eyes widened as he saw Clementine pinned under a dead runner and walkers closing in on them. "Shit, Clementine!" He made a move to help her but was stopped by Kenny.

"No, I got it," Kenny said. He knew Lee wouldn't be able to move the body very easily with his injured shoulder. "You take care of those walkers. Cassie, keep an eye out for any more runners."

"You got it," Cassie replied as she shot down another runner.

With Lee taking out the advancing walkers, Kenny ran toward Clementine and quickly pulled the dead body off of her. He helped her to her feet, and they both helped to dispatch the remaining walkers. Once they were all dead, and Kenny was sure there weren't any more coming, he looked down at Clementine.

"You alright, darlin'?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so." She looked down at the dead runner that had fallen on top of her. "Well, at least I killed it before it fell on top of me."

Kenny smiled slightly. "Yeah, you did good, Clem."

"Yeah, you did," Lee agreed. "If you hadn't warned us about those walkers behind us, we wouldn't have known until it was too late."

"Yeah, thanks for saving our asses," Cassie said.

Clementine blushed at all the praises she was getting. "You're welcome."

Cassie scanned the trees, looking for any signs that more may be coming. "Do you think there are more?" she asked as she turned back toward the group. "Lee! Look out!"

Lee turned around just as a runner tackled him to the ground. He landed, with a cry of pain, on his wounded shoulder with the runner on top of him ready to take a bite out of him, and he was in too much pain to do much about it. He could once again feel the sticky wetness seeping through his shirt and jacket.

Lucky for him, Cassie was quick as she pulled out her dagger and stabbed it in the back of the head before it could do anything else. She pushed the dead runner off of him. However, he didn't get up right away. He lay there breathing heavily as he tried to work through the pain. His shoulder was throbbing so hard, he thought he might pass out from it. Eventually, though, the pain subsided enough for him to be able to sit up on his own.

"Lee, are you ok?" Clementine asked, worried.

Lee gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I'm alright, sweet pea."

"Are you sure? You looked like you were in pain there," Cassie said.

"Yeah. I just hit the ground hard, got the wind knocked out of me."

"Lee, is…" Kenny began.

"I said I'm fine, Kenny," Lee interrupted, giving him a pointed look. He didn't want Clementine to know about his wound, not until he could get it properly treated. He didn't want to worry her. Kenny seemed to get the point as he nodded slightly, albeit reluctantly. Lee gave him a grateful smile in return. "Well, I think we should get out of here before more show up," he said as he slowly got to his feet. He felt a bit dizzy once he was on his feet, but that quickly passed. And he started walking through the trees with the others following close behind.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – The Camp Site

They had been walking for an hour now, and there was still no sign of civilization anywhere, which had Kenny worried. He surreptitiously glanced back at Lee, who had started to lag behind, which was odd for him. Lee was usually in the lead with Kenny, but now he was walking slower than usual. But that wasn't the only thing that had Kenny worried. His face was incredibly pale and his brow was furrowed, most likely from the pain in his shoulder. Kenny had a feeling that Lee's wound was bleeding again after getting knocked down by that runner, and if they didn't stop soon to treat it, he was going to collapse.

Kenny knew that he couldn't come right out and say it because for some reason, Lee wanted to keep it quiet. He was kind of surprised the girls hadn't noticed the blood when they first saw him, but then again, Lee was wearing a dark colored leather jacket which hid the blood stain on his shoulder very well especially with it being darker than usual because of the rain clouds. But he would respect his friend's wishes. So, he discreetly slowed down so he was even with Lee. He looked at him and grimaced. Lee looked even worse close up.

"Your shoulder's bleeding again, isn't it?" Kenny asked quietly.

Lee sighed. "Yeah."

"Damn it," Kenny sighed. "Why didn't you let me say anything before?"

"Because I don't want Clementine to know. I don't want her to worry." 

"Lee, that little girl is tough as nails. I'm sure she can handle it."

Lee lowered his eyes, trying to ignore the constant throbbing in his shoulder. "I know she's tough, but that's not going to stop her from worrying. She has enough to worry about right now without adding this to the mix. I'll tell her eventually when we're somewhere safe, but not now."

Kenny nodded, conceding the point. "I get that, but we should at least stop and treat your wound before you pass out."

Lee shook his head. "No, we have to find shelter before nightfall. Clementine is still soaking wet, and it's just going to get colder once night hits. If we don't find shelter soon, she may not survive the night."

Kenny looked at Clementine. Her clothes were still wet, but she was also still wearing Cassie's leather jacket, which was keeping her warm enough for the time being. But he knew that Lee was right. It was going to get colder once it got dark, and if they couldn't get a good fire going, which was highly unlikely given how wet everything was, then they all might freeze. But he also knew that Lee couldn't keep going on like this either.

"Lee, I know you're worried about Clementine, but you've got to worry about yourself too. If you keep going on like this, then you're not going to make it until nightfall."

Lee didn't say anything. He just kept walking, and Kenny was starting to get frustrated.

"God damn it, Lee, and I thought I was the stubborn one. Alright, fine." He walked in front of Lee, knowing he was going to have to take matters into his own hands, and before Lee could protest, he called out to his girlfriend. "Hey Cass."

"Yeah?" she answered as she stopped and turned toward him.

"Why don't you and Clementine scout on ahead a little bit? Lee and I are going to take a break."

"Sure. Everything alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, just not as young as I used to be," he replied, feigning fatigue even though he wasn't tired at all.

Cassie smirked. "Oh, so you're finally admitting you're old, huh?" she said playfully.

Kenny scowled, putting his hands on his hips. "I didn't say that. Just said I ain't that young."

"Right. C'mon, Clementine. Let's let the old man catch his breath," she joked as she turned and walked away.

Clementine hesitated a moment as she glanced back at Lee, who gave her a nod of encouragement, before following the older woman.

Kenny shook his head. _Old, my ass,_ he thought. He may be getting up in years, but he was far from old. He still had plenty of energy left to keep up with her. He was going to have to get her back for that one. Pushing that thought to the back of his mind for now, he turned toward Lee.

"Alright, let's get you patched up."

Lee let out a resigned sigh as he carefully sat down against a tree. "Thanks, Kenny."

"What are friends for," Kenny said as he took off his backpack, placed it on the ground, and started rummaging through it. After finding some more bandages, he helped Lee take off his jacket and unbutton his shirt so he could get at the wound. _Shit, he's losing a lot of blood,_ he thought worriedly as he saw the once white bandage completely stained red. He shook that thought away as he started removing the old bandage. "I still think you should tell Clementine about this."

"I will when we get somewhere safe," Lee replied and hissed in pain as Kenny pulled away the old bandage, pulling the edges of the wound in the process.

"Sorry," Kenny said as he threw away the old bandage and replaced it with the new one. "And what if we don't, find someplace safe I mean?"

Lee looked Kenny in the eye. "We will. We have to."

Kenny nodded as he finished tying off the bandage. Lee sounded so confident that he couldn't really argue. "You're right," he said as he stood. "Well, you're all set. That should do for now."

Lee looked down at the fresh bandages. Nodding in satisfaction, he proceeded to put his shirt and jacket back on. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You've helped me out plenty in the past. It's my turn to return the favor."

At that moment, Cassie and Clementine came back.

"Hey, you guys good and rested?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, I think we're good," Lee replied as he stood up. He almost sat right back down after a wave of dizziness overtook him, but he was able to shake it off without being too obvious about it.

"Good because Clementine and I found a campsite near here."

Lee looked hopeful. "A campsite? Do you think that would be a good place to spend the night?"

"Doubt it," Cassie replied with a shake of her head. "The tents looked pretty shredded, and the vehicle that was there, it looked like all the windows were busted out. I don't think we'd all fit in it anyway."

"But it looked like there was a lot of stuff there. We might find something useful," Clementine added.

"Then let's check it out then," Kenny said. The two girls led the way back to the campsite they had discovered. Before Kenny followed, however, he turned toward Lee. "You up for this?" he asked.

"Don't have much choice, do I?" Lee replied. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Kenny sighed as he followed after Cassie and Clementine. Lee watched him go. He knew the older man was worried, and he had every right to be. Hell, he was worried himself. Truthfully, he felt like crap. His limbs felt like lead, which in turn made his movements sluggish, and he felt bone-tired. Even after sitting for a few minutes, he still felt tired, more tired than he should have been. And those dizzy spells he kept having weren't helping matters. He knew he was suffering from the affects of blood loss, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He just had to keep moving and hope that they found the supplies they needed and someplace to stay for the night soon.

After taking a deep breath, Lee followed his friends until he came upon the campsite the girls had mentioned. After looking around the camp, he realized that they probably weren't going to find anything useful. The two tents that were set up on the far side of the camp weren't fit to be adequate shelters anymore. The poles were all bent and the canvases were torn to shreds. There was a Volkswagen bus sitting off to the right side with its side door open and all the windows busted out. There were patches of rust marring the body of the vehicle. It looked like it had been sitting there for quite a while. There were several logs situated around the proverbial campfire, except there was no campfire in the middle. Instead there was a small grill with a big hole in the bottom of it, and there was grass and weeds growing through the middle of it.

"Well, shit. It doesn't look like there's much here," Kenny said.

"We should at least have a look around. You never know. We might find something useful in those boxes over there," Cassie said, indicating a couple boxes, one sitting in the open door of the bus and the other sitting on the ground next to it.

"Yeah, ok."

The two walked toward the vehicle. Lee, meanwhile, took a seat on one of the logs. He just didn't think he could stay standing in one spot for very much longer. When he was moving, it was different. He had a goal in mind, a purpose to drive himself forward. He was pretty sure he would collapse if he stood still for too long.

"Lee?"

Lee looked over to see Clementine looking at him with a worried frown. He gave her a gentle smile to try to alleviate her worries. "Hey, sweet pea. How are you doing?"

"I'm ok. I'm still a little cold. And hungry."

Lee frowned, knowing that he couldn't do anything about that at the moment. "I'm sorry, Clem. We'll find something soon."

"I hope so. Lee, are you ok? You don't look good."

Lee smiled even though he really didn't feel it. "I'm fine, Clem. Just tired is all. I just need a minute. Why don't you have a look around, see if you can find something useful?"

Clementine didn't look convinced, but she nodded anyway. "Ok," she replied and wandered off.

Cassie had been listening to the conversation as she glanced back at Lee. She too was getting worried as she returned her attention back to the box she had been searching through. His skin was pale, and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Kenny?" Cassie said as she dug through the box that was sitting just inside of the bus.

"Yeah, what is it, hon?" Kenny replied as he too sifted through the other box.

"What's going on with Lee? He looks terrible."

Kenny glanced back at Lee for a moment and sighed. He took a moment before he decided to tell her the truth. Lee had specifically said he didn't want Clementine to know. He didn't say anything about Cassie.

"One of those assholes in the woods stabbed him in the shoulder," he explained.

"Damn," Cassie sighed. "How bad?"

"It's still bleeding. It needs to be stitched."

"And we don't have anything for that, do we?"

"No, which is why we need to find some supplies soon," Kenny said as he vigorously dug through the box until he reached bottom. All he found were toys.

"Well, it doesn't look like we're going to find anything here," Cassie said as she picked up a picture of a once happy family. She glanced at it briefly before tossing it back in the box. "This is just a bunch of personal items."

"Son of a bitch!" Kenny exclaimed as he roughly shoved the box, causing it to tip over and spill toys everywhere. He stood up, his hands clenched into fists so tight his knuckles were white. He couldn't take this anymore. Lee was slowly bleeding to death, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. What if they didn't find the supplies they needed to patch up his shoulder? What if he died? Kenny didn't know if he could handle losing one more person. Lee was his best friend. He had been there for him, supported him practically since the beginning. Kenny didn't know what he would do if he lost him.

Cassie, unfazed by Kenny's outburst as she was quite used to them by now, approached her boyfriend calmly and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Kenny, calm down. Getting worked up isn't going to help matters. He'll be ok."

"You can't know that."

"No, but you just have to have faith."

Kenny looked at her and shook his head with a sigh. "Cass, hon, I love you, but how the hell can you have faith when all you see is death and destruction day in and day out?"

"I don't know," Cassie said with a shrug. "Sometimes, to get through the rough times, you have to think positive."

Kenny stared into the trees, wondering how big this forest was and how much farther until they reached some kind of civilization. "Yeah, well, that ain't exactly easy when everything is falling apart around you."

"Kenny," Clementine called from behind them.

After a moment of contemplation, Kenny turned toward the young girl to see her standing by a large tree on the other side of the camp. "Yeah, Clem, what is it?" he asked.

"There's a walker tied to a tree over here," Clementine replied.

Kenny locked eyes with Cassie. Then he gave her a quick kiss as a thank you for trying to make him feel better before they both went to see what Clementine had discovered. As Kenny was walking, however, he caught Lee's gaze and stopped for a moment.

Lee looked at him in concern. Kenny's outburst had not gone unnoticed. "You ok?" he asked.

Kenny smiled. Good ole Lee. Always worrying about everyone but himself. "Yeah, I'm fine. You just worry about yourself."

"You want me…" Lee began as he started to stand up but stopped when Kenny quickly waved him off.

"Naw, pal. You sit tight. I got this," Kenny replied as he walked around to the other side of the tree Clementine was standing by to check out this walker Clem had found.

The walker looked like it had been there a while. It was mostly skin and bones with a thick rope across its torso that wrapped completely around the trunk of the tree and a small Swiss army knife sticking out of its shoulder. It was reaching weakly toward them, looking to get a tasty meal.

Kenny knelt down to get a better look at the site where the knife was sticking out. He could see the bite mark, and it looked like the skin was sliced halfway around it.

"What do you think happened to him?" Cassie asked.

"Well, he was definitely bitten," Kenny replied as he stood up. "Looks like he tried to cut it out."

"That obviously didn't work," Cassie stated.

"Do you think he did this to himself or did someone else do it to him?" Clementine asked.

Kenny looked down at the weakly struggling walker and crossed his arms. "He's been here a while. I don't think it matters one way or another." He took out his knife and stabbed it on top of the head, killing it for good. Then, after putting his own knife away, he pulled out the Swiss army knife from the walker's shoulder. He wiped the blood off on his jeans and examined it closely. "Still pretty sharp. Here, darlin', why don't you hang onto this?" he said as he handed the knife to Clementine. "I noticed you lost your knife back there. This one should be good until we can get you a better one."

Clementine accepted the knife with a smile. "Thank you."

Kenny returned the smile as he lightly tapped the end of her cap, causing her to giggle slightly. "Alright, y'all," he said, turning serious again. "We should get going. We're not gonna to find anything useful here."

Clementine noticed a cooler sitting nearby and wondered if there was any food left inside. They never got to eat that weasel they had been cooking, and she was starving. "Hey, what about this cooler? Maybe there's still food inside," she said as she knelt down in front of it.

"Uh, Clem, I wouldn't…" Cassie began, but it was too late.

Clementine opened the lid and the noxious smell of rotten and decaying food hit her full in the face. Her face scrunched in disgust as she quickly closed the lid again, trying not to gag. "Oh, yuck! I'm getting so sick of that smell," she said, her voice sounding slightly nasal as she tried not to breathe through her nose.

Cassie laughed as she put her arm around the young girl. "I think we all are, kiddo. C'mon, let's get out of here."

Kenny watched Cassie lead Clementine away before turning toward Lee who was slowly getting to his feet. "You good to go?"

Lee stood there for a moment to get his bearings and to wait for the dizziness to pass before he nodded. "Yeah, let's go."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – The Cabin

Lee didn't know how long they had been walking. Truthfully, he wasn't really paying attention. All he had been focusing on was putting one foot in front the other, but he didn't know how much longer he could keep that up. He was exhausted, his shoulder throbbed, and he was breathing heavily, like he had just run a marathon. He felt like his body was shutting down, and the scariest part about it was, it probably really was shutting down.

It wasn't until he heard Kenny call out his name that he became aware that they were standing at the edge of some kind of clearing, and Kenny and Cassie were kneeling at the tree line looking at something in the distance. Kenny turned toward Lee and beckoned him forward.

"Lee, there's a cabin up ahead," he said.

Lee perked up a bit at that and joined the two at the tree line, kneeling next to Kenny. Sure enough there was small two-story house with white siding and a wrap-around porch and there was a small shed off to the left. Lee smiled at the prospect of finding a possible shelter from the rain and the cold, and he suddenly felt a renewed energy. The only problem was there were lights in the windows and a man wearing a red baseball cap standing on the porch with a rifle. Obviously, the cabin was already occupied.

"That place is perfect. It's exactly what we need," Lee said.

"Yeah, except there's already people inside," Cassie said.

Kenny looked at Lee. "Well, Lee, how do you want to handle this?"

Lee looked thoughtful. He didn't like that there was a guy with a gun standing outside, but then again, guns were a part of everyday life nowadays. It didn't mean he was necessarily dangerous, just that he was prepared.

"Alright. We approach slowly. If we show them we're no threat, they might be less likely to kill us," Lee replied.

"And how do you know they won't shoot us on sight?" Kenny asked.

"I don't know. Gut feeling, I guess," Lee replied. He looked at Cassie and Clementine. "I want you two to stay back in case things don't go our way."

Cassie nodded, but Clementine looked worried. "Please, be careful," she said.

Lee smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, sweet pea. We'll be fine."

"C'mon. Let's go," Kenny said.

The two men started walking slowly toward the house.

"Do you really think these people could be friendly?" Kenny asked as they walked.

"I don't know. I hope so. We can't afford to be turned away. We were lucky to have found this place when we did."

Kenny looked doubtful. He had learned over the years not to be so trusting. They had been burned too many times in the past. "Yeah, but luck can go both ways. Remember the St. Johns? That place seemed like a godsend. They had exactly what we needed. Didn't mean it was a good thing."

Lee lowered his eyes, remembering that disastrous attempt to get some food for their group, and they almost ended up being food. "Yeah, I remember. You don't have to tell me twice."

Everything seemed to be going fine as they continued to walk. There didn't seem to be any kind of reaction from the man on the porch or the other occupants of the cabin if there were any. However, when they were about halfway to the house, they saw the man jerk his rifle toward them, and then a gunshot pierced the air, causing their ears to ring for a few seconds. Both men quickly ducked down. Lee, however, moved slightly to the side as he had felt the whiff of the bullet as it whizzed past his ear. That had been too close.

"Well, so much for them being friendly," Kenny said as he reached behind his back to pull out his gun.

Lee put a hand on his arm to stop him. "No, wait."

"Are you kidding? That guy almost blew your face off!"

"Yeah, but I don't think he did it on purpose," Lee said as he looked toward the man who had lowered his weapon, his eyes widened in surprise.

Seconds later, the front door burst open, and a man with sandy-colored hair, wearing jeans and an orange shirt with a machete strapped to his back, came running out looking around frantically. He saw Lee and Kenny and then he walked toward the other man.

"Let's see how this plays out," Lee whispered to Kenny who nodded in agreement.

"What the hell are you doing, Nick?" the sandy haired man asked.

"There's people coming," the man called Nick replied.

"So, you just shoot 'em?"

"Luke, they could be working for Carver," Nick argued.

"We don't know that, and until we do, you don't go shooting at people," Luke scolded.

Several more people exited the cabin at that point. The first being an older man with salt and pepper hair, a black beard and was dressed in green army fatigues. He was followed by a Hispanic man with black hair, wearing a red and tan flannel shirt, an African American pregnant woman, and an African American man with glasses.

"What the hell is going on out here?" the older man asked.

"Oh nothing, Pete. Nick's just shooting at strangers," Luke replied.

"What?" Pete exclaimed.

"You idiot," the woman snapped. "Every lurker within five miles could have heard that shot."

"Look, I'm sorry. They just startled me, that's all," Nick said, trying to justify his actions.

"If you're that easily startled, you shouldn't be out here with a gun. Give me that thing," Pete said as he snatched the rifle from Nick's hands. Nick looked ready to argue, but instead crossed his arms with a huff.

With that settled Luke turned to Lee and Kenny. "Uh, I'm sorry about my friend," he said as he scratched the back of his head. "Nick's been known to go off sometimes. Don't hold it against him."

Lee and Kenny looked at each other for a moment before they both stood up and walked the rest of the way to the cabin, stopping just short of the porch. Lee took a deep breath and took a step forward. He was sort of their designated diplomat so to speak. He was good at talking to people calmly and rationally. That's why whenever they met new people he was the one to talk to them. And even though he was feeling pretty lousy at the moment, he knew it was up to him the get the ball rolling.

"Look, we don't want to cause any trouble. We just need a place to stay for the night."

Luke studied them silently for a few seconds before he looked at the Hispanic man, who sighed and shook his head.

"The cabin is pretty over-capacitated with all of us here. We don't really have room for anymore people," he said.

"C'mon, Carlos. We can't just turn them away," Luke said.

"The hell we can't. They could be working for Carver for all we know," the woman said with her arms crossed.

"Who the hell is Carver?" Kenny asked, but Lee put up a hand to prevent him from saying anymore.

"Look, we don't know any Carver. We're not working for anyone," Lee said. "We just need a place to stay. We can leave in the morning if that's what you want."

Cassie and Clementine watched the exchange from the safety of the tree line. Well, no one was shooting. That was a good sign. When that first gunshot came, she had almost went running out there to make sure Lee and Kenny were alright, but she had to stop herself and Clementine, who almost did go running out there, worried that one of her friends had gotten hurt. Once she saw that neither one of them was injured, she had relaxed, but she still looked worried. Cassie wished she could hear what they were saying, but all she could hear were muffled voices that were completely unintelligible.

Her attention was diverted from the conversation in front of her, however, when she heard running footsteps behind her. She spun around to see a runner sprinting towards her, another one right behind it. "Oh shit! Clementine, run!" she yelled as she took out her dagger.

Clementine took a few steps back, but she didn't want to leave Cassie alone to deal with these two on her own.

Cassie stood at the ready. When the first runner neared her, she put her hand on the back of its head and used its momentum to shove it aside. Then she stabbed the second runner right in the forehead when it came near. The one she shoved aside, however, quickly jumped back to its feet and rounded on Clementine. With an ear-piercing shriek, it started running toward the little girl. With no weapon in her hand and not wanting to waste precious seconds trying to dig into her pocket for the Swiss army knife Kenny had given her, Clementine turned and ran toward Lee and Kenny.

"Lee!" Clementine cried as she ran.

"Clementine!" Lee exclaimed, taking a step forward.

Before either he or Kenny could do anything, however, Luke had already jumped over the railing of the porch, pulled out his machete, and was sprinting across the grass. He ran past Clementine and swung his machete at the runner's head, cutting it clean in half. The top half of the head went flying as the body collapsed to the ground in a heap at Clementine's feet as she stopped and turned around. She looked at Luke with wide eyes for a moment before she relaxed slightly as she realized that Luke had just saved her. Luke looked at her and gave her a slight smile.

"Clementine! Are you alright?" Lee asked as he came up behind her.

She turned around as Lee knelt down to her level and nodded. "Yeah. It didn't even get near me."

"Oh, thank god," Kenny said. "What about Cassie?"

"She killed the other one, but then that one started chasing me," Clementine replied.

They all looked toward the tree line where they saw Cassie killing a third runner. Then, after making sure there weren't any more heading her way, she started walking towards the group, wiping the blood off her knife with a bandana she pulled out of her backpack.

"Cass, you ok?" Kenny asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm good," Cassie replied. Kenny hugged her, and she found comfort in his strong embrace. "Luckily, there weren't very many of them," she continued.

"Yeah, no thanks to vanilla ice over there and his itchy trigger finger," Kenny said with a bit of malice in his voice as he glared at Nick.

"Hey!" Nick protested, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Just let it go, son," Pete said calmly.

"I ain't your son," Nick snapped.

"C'mon, Nick. Don't be like that," Luke said as he walked up the porch steps, sheathing his machete as he did so.

"Nah, it's ok. He's got his mother's temper," Pete said.

"So, are they going to let us stay or what?" Cassie asked, looking at Kenny.

"Well, ain't that the question of the day," Kenny said as he stared daggers at the people on the porch.

Lee looked from Kenny to the people they had just met. He could tell by the looks on their faces that most of them still had their doubts about how trustworthy Lee and his group were. Looked like they had major trust issues, but then who didn't nowadays? It looked like it was going to take some more convincing. He scrubbed a hand over his face. The adrenaline he had felt earlier was starting to wear off, and all he wanted to do was just lay down somewhere and go to sleep for a month…maybe more. But he knew he had to keep it together if he was going to make his case. So, he took a deep breath and took a step forward.

"Look, I get it. You don't trust us. Trust isn't an easy thing to give nowadays, but we've been wandering around these woods for hours now. We're tired and we're hungry. We've been attacked by bandits and those runner things or whatever you call them. And my girl here," he indicated Clementine, "she fell into the river trying to escape said bandits. She's cold and wet, and she won't survive the night out here. All I'm asking is for one night."

Luke looked at Lee in sympathy before his gaze wandered down to Clementine standing next to him. She looked so small in that oversized jacket she was wearing, and she did look pretty cold despite the jacket. He sighed. "I say we let them stay."

"What?" Nick said.

"I agree," Pete chimed in.

"You can't be serious," the woman said. "Luke, you're not actually buying this, are you? They could still be working for Carver."

"How many times do we have to tell you, lady? We don't work for Carver," Kenny snarled.

"Oh, and we're supposed to just believe you?"

"I don't give a fuck what…"

"Cool it," Cassie interrupted before he could go off on another one of his tirades. "C'mon, Kenny. Let Lee handle this. Diplomacy isn't your strong suite."

"Rebecca, they have a kid with them. Do you really think Carver would have a kid working for him?" Luke asked.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Rebecca replied, crossing her arms.

"C'mon, Bec," Luke argued. "Look at her. What if that was your kid? And what about you, Carlos? What if that were Sarah standing there?"

Rebecca immediately put her hands on her swollen belly as she contemplated Luke's words. Carlos's eyes widened as they strayed to Clementine. His eyes softened then in sympathy and he sighed as he lowered his head.

"Alright, group meeting, right now," Carlos said. "Nick, keep an eye on them."

"Finger off the trigger, boy," Pete said as he handed the rifle back to Nick.

"Whatever," Nick replied as he took the rifle from the older man's hands.

Lee watched as the cabin group, aside from Nick, gathered in a huddle on the porch, talking in low tones. He strained to hear what was being said, but there was a sudden ringing in his ears that he just couldn't get past. He blinked a few times as he realized that his vision was starting to gray out and his limbs felt like they weighed a ton. He knew he had reached the end of his endurance as he leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.

He could swear he heard his friends' voices calling out to him, but he couldn't even begin to understand what they were saying or even care. All he cared about at that moment was finding someplace to sit before he collapsed. Lifting his head, he looked at the porch just in front of him. _That's as good a place as any,_ he thought fuzzily as he lurched forward, braced one hand on the edge of the porch, and spun himself around before collapsing onto his butt so that his back was leaning against the porch. Finally off his feet and someplace relatively safe, he let go and closed his eyes.

* * *

Kenny had been watching the people on the porch very closely and was trying to hear what was being discussed when he saw Lee lean forward with his hands on his knees out of the corner of his eye. Kenny looked at him fully and didn't like what he saw. Lee looked even worse than he had a few hours ago if possible. He was extremely pale with sweat dripping down his face, and he was practically panting.

"Lee, are you alright?" Kenny asked.

"Lee, what's wrong?!" Clementine cried, fear and worry etched on her young face.

Lee didn't answer though. He practically fell forward and braced himself on the porch before falling to his butt against the porch wall. He then leaned heavily against it and closed his eyes, his body going limp. Now Kenny was really worried as he rushed to Lee's side as Cassie eased Clementine out of the way.

"Lee! Lee, wake up!" he yelled, shaking him slightly, which got a response as Lee's eyes fluttered open again after a minute, but they didn't focus on anything at first.

"Hey! What happened? Is he ok?"

Kenny looked up to see Luke leaning over the railing of the porch above him, his brow pinched in worry. Nick appeared right next to him, eyes wide in surprise.

"Oh shit! Was he bit?" Nick asked.

"No!" Kenny snapped. "One of the bandits that attacked us stabbed him in the shoulder."

By this time, Carlos was hurrying down the porch steps and was at their side in an instant. He knelt down next to Kenny. "Let me have a look," he said.

Kenny glared daggers at the Hispanic man. He already didn't like this guy because of his unwillingness to let them stay, saying that the cabin was "over-capacitated". Kenny had almost scoffed at that. It wasn't capacity that was his problem. He just didn't trust them, so how was Kenny supposed to trust him now.

"No offense, but I don't know you from fucking Adam. Why should I trust you with my best friend's life?" Kenny said, refusing to move from Lee's side.

Carlos looked at him steadily. "I'm a doctor, and if you don't trust me, your friend may lose his life."

Kenny's eyes narrowed as he weighed his options.

"Kenny," Cassie said gently, "C'mon. If he's a doctor, let him help."

Kenny glanced at Cassie before his eyes lowered to Clementine standing in front of her. The look in her eyes was practically pleading with him to let Carlos help. He sighed. How could he deny that? He looked back at Carlos and gave him a slight nod as he moved out of the way.

Carlos moved closer to Lee. He placed two fingers on Lee's neck to take his pulse while he tried to get a response from his patient to gage his level of consciousness. "Lee? Can you hear me?"

It was a minute or two before Lee's eyes opened once more and he responded with a breathy, "Yeah."

"Good. My name is Carlos, and I'm a doctor. I'm going to fix you up."

Lee's mouth quirked upward in a small smile. "Sounds good to me."

"Alright. I'm going to take a look at your wound now," Carlos said as he started removing Lee's jacket and shirt from his injured shoulder. He examined the wound closely, occasionally probing it, eliciting a wince from his patient, for which he would apologize. "How along ago did this happen?"

"Uh, I don't know. A few hours ago. I tried to patch it up as best I could, but we don't have much in the way of medical supplies," Kenny replied.

"Hmm," Carlos said thoughtfully as he continued to examine the wound. "Well, it definitely requires stitches, and it looks like he's lost quite of bit of blood." _Hopefully not too much,_ he thought. There was only so much he could do about blood loss. If it's too severe, a blood transfusion may be required, which was something they could not do.

"Can you help him?" Clementine asked.

Carlos looked up into sorrowful, amber eyes and sighed. Now he had to help, for the girl's sake. "Yeah, I think I can." He looked back at Lee, who was still semi-conscious. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I think so. Just give me a shoulder," Lee replied.

Kenny immediately moved to Lee's other side. "C'mon, pal," he said as he helped Lee stand. "Let's get you out of this rain."

Lee gave him a half smile as he glanced at Kenny. "Good. I was getting tired of being cold and wet."

"Me too," Kenny replied with a laugh.

With Carlos assisting on Lee's other side, they slowly made their way up onto the porch and into the house. They were hit by an immediate warmth as they entered the cabin that took the chill right out of their bones. They walked down a short hall to what looked like a living area lit by the soft glow of an iron fireplace in the right-hand corner of the room. The place looked homey and lived-in with family pictures adorning the walls and personal items strewn about. Whoever had lived here before, it looked like they had left in a hurry.

"Ok, I can take it from here," Carlos said as he took most of Lee's weight so Kenny could step back.

Kenny glanced at Carlos briefly before reluctantly releasing his burden and watched as the doctor helped Lee up the stairs and into one of the rooms. He didn't like leaving Lee in the hands of these strangers, but what choice did he have?

"Don't worry. Your friend's in good hands. Carlos is the best doctor I know," Luke assured. "By the way, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Luke, and this here's Nick, Pete, Alvin, and Rebecca."

Kenny glanced coolly at each member of the group as they were being introduced but said nothing. He wasn't quite sure what to make of these people yet, and until he was sure, he wasn't about to make friends with them.

Cassie looked at her boyfriend and sighed. That man was as stubborn as a mule most of the time, and sometimes she didn't know why she put up with him. Guess it was up to her to make the pleasantries.

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you. I'm Cassie and this is Kenny and Clementine."

Rebecca huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest. "I still think this is a bad idea," she muttered as she walked away.

"Babe, c'mon," Alvin tried to placate her as he followed her into the nearby bedroom, the door slamming shut behind him.

"What's her problem?" Kenny asked, putting his hands on his hips.

Luke sighed and shook his head. "Sorry about that. She's a little on edge. I guess we all are."

"Because of this Carver you mentioned?" Cassie asked curiously.

"Yeah," Luke said slowly, not wanting to broach the subject of their problems.

Nick stood and watched the newcomers for a few minutes. Then without a word, he turned and walked through a swinging door that presumably lead to a kitchen.

"Nice group you got here," Kenny said.

"Yeah. Like I said, we're all on edge here."

Cassie shook her head. She was tired of all the tension in the air that seemed to be a permanent fixture in their lives since the dead started walking. They deserved a little relaxation, and she figured this was probably the best time and place to do it. "C'mon, Clem. Let's get you warmed up by the fire," she said as she steered the little girl toward the fireplace.

"Ok," Clementine readily agreed. Even though she was out of the rain and in a nice, warm house, she was still chilled to the bone. It felt like it had been ages since she was last warm and dry.

"Well, I think I'm going to keep an eye on things outside, make sure nothing or no one sneaks up on us," Pete said as walked back out the front door with a crossbow in his hand.

Left alone with the newcomers, Luke decided to ask the question that had been plaguing him since they mentioned being attacked in the woods. He had to make sure the men that attacked them weren't Carver's people.

"Lee mentioned you were attacked by bandits. Did they say what they wanted? They weren't searching for anybody?"

"Hell if I know," Kenny replied as he plopped down on the couch. "And I didn't care to ask."

"They attacked Lee first," Clementine replied as she stared blankly into the flames. "They wanted him to take them to our camp, but Lee wouldn't do it."

Cassie sighed as she put a hand on Clementine's shoulder in comfort. "They may have been after our food. We were cooking some sort of weasel."

"They attacked you for a weasel? Man."

"Yeah, I know. The world's gone to shit," Cassie said bitterly as she walked around the coffee table to sit on the couch next to Kenny.

"Well, it don't matter now, because they're dead," Kenny said matter-of-factly.

"Oh. That's…good…I guess," Luke said even though he was very uncomfortable with killing people. Walkers he had no problem with, but people were a different story. Even if a person deserved it, he couldn't do it because he believed that it would make him no different than any other murderer out there. He just wasn't willing to sink to that level. He supposed if his life depended on it and he had no choice, he might be able to, but so far, he hadn't been in a situation like that, yet. "Are you guys hungry? We've got plenty of food."

"Well, we never did get to eat that weasel," Cassie said as she looked at Kenny.

"I'm starving," Clementine piped up.

Kenny looked into Cassie's eyes and realized he was pretty famished himself. "I guess I could eat."

"Alright. I'll get you something," Luke said as he walked into the kitchen.

Once they were alone, Cassie looked at her boyfriend. "Kenny, will you give it a rest?"

Kenny looked at her, one eyebrow raised in question. "What?"

"Don't give me what. You know what. The least you can do is try to be nice to these people."

"Cass, we don't know these people. They could be murderers or thieves for all we know," Kenny argued.

"They've been nice to us so far," Cassie pointed out.

"Right," Kenny said sarcastically. "One of them tried to shoot us, another one isn't very receptive of us being here, and that doctor basically told us to go away. Oh yeah, they've been real nice."

Cassie sighed. Sometimes, trying to break through Kenny's stubborn streak was really tiring. But she was nothing if not determined. "They're careful. So are we. Okay, so some of them haven't been very welcoming, but it doesn't make them bad. The shooting was an accident, and the doctor agreed to help us once he saw how injured Lee was. "

Kenny just grunted and crossed his arms.

"Look, Kenny, I know you've had bad experiences with trusting people, but not everyone is like the St. Johns. And you have to admit not everyone here was so rude. Luke and Pete seemed to genuinely want to help us. Now to me, that says that this group isn't all bad. They've probably just had a lot of rough times, just like everyone else."

Kenny sighed. He hated to admit it, but she was starting to make some sense. Luke had been nothing but kind to them. He's the one that argued in their favor and he's the one that saved Clementine from that runner. Maybe they weren't all bad, but he still wasn't sure he wanted to put his complete trust in them yet.

"Kenny," Clementine spoke up.

Kenny looked at the little girl seated in front of the fireplace. "Yeah, darlin', what is it?"

"I think we should trust them. They seem like good people. They're just cautious, like we all are."

Kenny looked into those golden eyes and sighed. "Alright. I'll give them a chance."

Cassie glared at him playfully. "Oh sure. Her you just give into in two seconds, but me, I have to go through this whole spiel just to get you to see things my way." She crossed her arms across her chest, trying to act indignant, but she couldn't keep the smile from her face.

Kenny smiled at her. "Aw, I'm sorry, hon. I'm sorry you have to put up with me," he said as he put his arm around her. "But I'm glad you do."

Cassie leaned against him, letting herself relax in his embrace. "Me too."

Clementine smiled as she turned back toward the fire, secretly pleased with herself. She could always get Kenny to do anything. It was easy. All she had to do was give him the puppy dog eyes, and he'd cave like a deflated balloon. It was a gift. Of course, she knew not to abuse this power. She only did it when Kenny was being especially stubborn about something, and Cassie wasn't having much luck getting through to him.

Luke came in a moment later juggling three bowls. Handing one to each of them, he said, "I know it's not exactly a home-cooked meal, but at least it's hot."

Cassie glanced into the bowl she had been given and grinned slightly. "Oatmeal. I haven't had oatmeal in years."

"I used to love having oatmeal for breakfast," Clementine said as she shoved a heaping spoonful into her mouth.

"Oh yeah? Me too," Luke said as he sat down on the floor next to Clementine. "Tastes better with milk though."

"Yeah," Clementine said in disappointment as that first bite didn't taste as good as she remembered and now she knew why.

"So, Clementine, how old are you?" Luke asked.

"I'm eleven."

"You know, when I was your age, I used to jump rooftops with my friends," Luke commented with a whimsical smile.

"That sounds stupid," Clementine said bluntly.

"I agree with you, Clem," Cassie chimed in.

Luke laughed. "Yeah, I guess it was. Fun though."

"You see, now that's what I don't get," Cassie said. "Why do men always do stupid stunts just for fun?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," Kenny said. "What do you mean men? There have been plenty of women who have done stupid things too, you know."

"Yeah, not as much as men. Hell, I once knew a guy who decided he was going to try to jump onto a tree from a balcony. Sure enough, he hit the tree and fell to the ground. Even my brother decided he was going to climb a tree while drunk. He reached for a branch that wasn't there and fell out of it."

Laughing, Luke said, "Okay, but you're telling me you never did anything stupid while growing up."

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly," Cassie said with a slight blush.

"Ah ha. I knew it. So, c'mon. What did you do?" Luke asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, hon. Tell us. I'd kind of like to know myself," Kenny said with interest, turning slightly to face her.

"Me too," Clementine piped up excitedly.

"Oh, come on. You guys are gaining up on me now," Cassie said, looking at each person in turn.

"So, tell us then," Luke prodded.

She sighed, realizing that they weren't going to give up on this anytime soon. _Oh, what the hell,_ she thought. They could all use a good laugh.

"Okay, fine," she relented. "When I was a teenager, my sister and I went grocery shopping with our dad one time. My sister was standing outside having a smoke, and I decided to keep her company. Now this was like the dead of winter. So, it's freezing cold and there's snow everywhere, and I noticed this big patch of ice around the side of the building. And my dumbass thought how cool it would be if I could slide across that patch of ice standing up without falling."

"Oh no," Clementine groaned, putting her hands over her face.

"Well, I think I see where this is going," Luke said with a smile.

"Yeah," Cassie admitted guiltily. "So, I say to my sister, 'Hey, watch me slip and fall!' And I run toward the patch of ice." She paused for dramatic effective and smiled at the three anxious faces waiting for her to finish her story. "And of course, I slipped and fell right on my ass."

Luke burst out laughing. Kenny tried to keep a straight face but was failing miserably. And Clementine just stared at her with wide eyes for a moment.

"Did you hurt yourself?" she asked.

Cassie gave her a reassuring smile. "No. My pride took a hit, but no I didn't hurt myself. Of course, my sister busted out laughing because I'm sure it was a funny sight to see."

Clementine covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile, but her shoulders shaking gave away her laughter. Cassie just nodded indulgently as she sat back on the couch.

"Yeah, go ahead. Laugh it up. My sister sure did. She never let me live that one down."

The levity continued for a couple more minutes until they noticed Carlos coming down the stairs. They each looked at him expectantly as he came around the couch to stand before them.

"So, Doc, what's the word?" Cassie asked.

Carlos crossed his arms as he prepared his answer. "He lost a lot of blood, but I think he'll be okay. I cleaned and stitched the wound and gave him meds to stave off infection and relieve the pain. He should sleep the rest of the night."

Kenny sighed and leaned forward, putting one hand to his forehead. "Oh, thank god," he muttered softly. He had really been worried about Lee. He hadn't been this worried since Lee was bitten and they all thought he was going to turn. Lee was his best friend, and he couldn't imagine losing him now.

Clementine was so relieved she could have cried. Lee was the most important person in her life. Sure, she cared about Kenny and Cassie too. Cassie could always make her laugh, and Kenny always looked after her and taught her things. But Lee was like a father to her, and she would have been devastated if she lost him.

Cassie was happy Lee was going to be alright. Lee had become a good friend. She had come to rely on his skills and smarts in dire situations, and she saw how caring and protective he was of Clementine. She respected him for that. There weren't many people who would take the time to care and provide for a kid they didn't know.

Of course, now that they knew Lee was going to be okay, now came the question of what was going to happen now. Cassie knew all too well that most of this group didn't want them to stay at the cabin with them.

"So, uh, what happens now?" Cassie asked, looking from Carlos to Luke.

The two men looked at each other. Carlos clearly still seemed unsure of the situation so Luke took it upon himself to answer for him.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here with us. At least until Lee is feeling better."

Kenny looked up at him. "Some folks may not agree with that decision."

"They'll just have to deal with it."

Cassie gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks."

"I'm going to go check on Sarah," Carols said as he walked back up the stairs.

"Sarah?" Clementine asked curiously, looking at Luke.

"Sarah is his daughter," Luke replied. "She's a little bit older than you."

"Why doesn't she come down?" Clementine asked.

"Uh…" Luke stuttered, looking uncomfortable. "Carlos is really protective of her. He keeps a lot of what's going on from her. I don't think he trusts y'all to be around her just yet."

"Why is he so protective of her?" Cassie wondered. "I mean, I know she's his daughter and all, but still."

"She's…different. Carlos keeps saying that if she knew what was going on out there, she would cease to function."

"So, you're telling me that he hasn't taught her to defend herself against walkers?" Cassie asked in disbelief.

Luke just shook his head, the look on his face telling them that he didn't agree with the decision either.

Kenny huffed. "Sounds stupid to me."

"You're not kidding," Cassie agreed. "Can you imagine what would have happened to Clementine by now if Lee hadn't taught her how to shoot a gun, how to protective herself, if we hadn't taught her how to survive?"

Kenny closed his eyes. He had already gone through the pain of losing his son. He didn't want to think about that happening to Clementine. "I…don't really want to, hon."

Cassie looked at him sympathetically. She took his hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. Kenny opened his eyes and gave her small smile in gratitude.

"Let's talk about something else," Cassie suggested.

They talked for a few more hours and it was well into the night when Pete came in the front door. "Sorry to interrupt. But I'm standing watch out there, and I couldn't help but notice this place is lit up light a god damn beacon in the woods."

"Yeah, we should turn in anyways," Luke said as he stood up. "You guys can take the room upstairs with Lee. We'll manage down here."

"Thanks, Luke," Clementine said with a small smile.

"No problem, kid. Now get some sleep."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Attack at the Stream

Lee opened his eyes to a semi dark room. For a moment, he didn't know where he was or what had happened, but as he looked around the room he remembered meeting a group of people at a cabin and then feeling like he was going to pass out. He also remembered being helped up some stairs and into this room where the doctor—Carlos, was it?—had taken a look at his wound. He didn't remember much after that. He figured the doctor must have given him some pain meds which knocked him right out.

He shifted a little on the bed, intending to sit up, but stopped when he felt a slight weight at his side. He turned his head and smiled when he saw Clementine snuggled at his side, fast asleep. His smile turned into a frown however as he remembered the look on her face when he had basically collapsed outside. She had looked so scared. He hoped she would be okay now.

Slowly he began to sit up, careful not to jostle the bed too much as he didn't want to wake Clementine. He smiled again when he saw Kenny and Cassie asleep on a makeshift bed on the floor. _Now I feel like this is a slumber party,_ he thought with a silent chuckle. He tested the movement of his shoulder and was grateful that there wasn't much pain. It definitely felt better than it did a few hours ago. He glanced out the window and saw that the sun was just coming up, indicating that it was pretty early in the morning.

Deciding that he had had enough sleep, he began to slowly crawl out of bed. Stepping over his two friends on the floor, he tiptoed out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. He slowly made his way down the stairs and saw Luke nestled in a pile of blankets on the floor. There was a blanket at one end of the couch, indicating that someone had slept there as well. Then his eyes met Pete's as he was walking in from the kitchen.

"Well, it's good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?" Pete asked in a genial manner.

"Better. Thanks."

"Glad to hear it. Lee, right? I don't think we were properly introduced. Name's Pete. Good to meet you." Pete held out his hand which Lee shook cordially.

"Yeah, you too," Lee replied. "So, what are you doing up so early?"

"My nephew, Nick, and I are going to check the fish traps down by the river," Pete replied.

"Mind if I tag along?" Lee asked. He definitely wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep, and it was better than sitting around doing nothing while he waited for the others to wake up.

Pete looked a bit surprised at first but then he seemed to shrug it off. "Sure, if you're feeling up to it. There should be a few breakfast bars left in the kitchen if you're hungry. I'm going to go grab the guns."

Lee nodded and wandered into the kitchen. He stopped just in the doorway, however, when he saw Nick sitting at the table, munching on his own breakfast bar. Nick stiffened when he saw Lee enter and slowly lowered the half-eaten bar to the tabletop. They stared at each other a moment. Lee saw the guilt in the man's face, and he knew that what happened the day before really was an accident. So, he decided to make the first move.

"Any of those left?" Lee asked, indicating the breakfast bar still in Nick's hand.

Nick glanced down at it and nodded. "Yeah, over there on the counter."

"Thanks," Lee said with a warm smile as he headed over to the counter to grab his breakfast. He noticed there were also a few bottles of water sitting on the counter and grabbed one of those as well. The first thing he did was twist open the cap and guzzle down about half the contents in a matter of seconds. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until he felt the clear liquid touch his tongue. He suspected it was because of the blood loss.

"Hey Lee," Nick called as he stood up.

"Yeah?" Lee replied, lowering the bottle of water and turning around to face him.

"Uh, listen," Nick said, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I really didn't mean to pull that trigger. You guys just sort of surprised me and the gun went off."

"Don't worry about. It's okay. No harm done." Lee waved away the apology as he grabbed a breakfast bar and started to rip off the wrapper. "Although, do me a favor, don't put your finger on the trigger unless you're ready to shoot someone."

"Uh, yeah. Guess I should try that."

"Then we'll get along fine," Lee said with a smile as he took a bite of the breakfast bar.

"Okay, we about ready to head out?" Pete asked as he walked in carrying two rifles. He handed one to Nick and turned to Lee. "You got a gun?"

Lee finished his breakfast bar in about two bites and threw the wrapper away before pulling his gun from his waistband and showing it to them. "Never go anywhere without it."

"Good. Let's go then."

They walked through the woods in silence. It was a clear morning. The sun was shining and the air was cool. There was a slight breeze that sent a sudden chill through Lee's body, making him regret leaving his leather jacket back at the cabin. It was too late to go back and get it now though, and it wasn't freezing cold, so he could manage without it for the moment. Then, Nick announced that he had to take a piss and went to find a tree. Pete and Lee kept going however.

"How's the shoulder?" Pete asked.

"It aches a bit, but it's better than it was," Lee replied.

"Good." Pete paused before asking, "So how old is Clementine?"

"She's eleven."

"How long has she been with you?"

Lee glanced at the older man and saw only curiosity in the man's face. "Two years. Her parents died when all this started. I've been taking care of her ever since."

Pete nodded as he walked across a door that served as a bridge across a small gap. "She know how to use a gun? I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job, of course. Just curious."

"Yeah, I taught her myself. She's become sort of a crack shot now. Although she still has trouble with fast-moving targets like those runners."

"That's good. That's important nowadays, and I'm sure she'll get better."

They climbed through a gap in a barbed wire fence and continued on.

"Nick was about her age first time I took him hunting. Came across this beautiful thirteen-point buck just standing there on the ridge line. Boy aims his rifle, lines up the shot just like I showed him." Pete stopped walking and aimed his rifle forward in demonstration. "And then I hear him start whining. He turns to me and says, 'I can't do it. I can't shoot it, Uncle Pete. Please don't make me shoot it.'"

"Really?"

"Hey! Why didn't you guys wait for me?" Nick called as he came running up behind them.

"You want us standing around while you piss on a tree?" Pete asked. "You know where the river is, boy." He started walking again while also continuing his story. "So, I go to grab the gun out of his hand before the big buck runs off, when BANG! Boy nearly gut-shot me, and of course the buck gets away."

"What're you going and telling him this shit for?" Nick asked, annoyed.

"Cause you almost blew his face off yesterday. Seems relevant. Just trying to let him know that it's nothing personal with you," Pete answered.

"Why are you always giving me a hard time?" Nick asked, irritably.

"Because you're always giving everyone else a hard time."

"I apologized already. He accepted."

"Okay, well I didn't know that."

Lee looked between the two as they argued like he was watching a tennis match. He thought about speaking up just then but decided not to. He got the feeling that they argued like this a lot, and nothing he had to say would stop them. So, he just let them go and decided to keep an eye out on their surroundings in case their shouting attracted any walkers.

"You're always trying to embarrass me," Nick said.

"You're doing a good enough job of that on your own," Pete shot back.

Nick angrily pushed past Pete, hitting him in the shoulder on purpose.

"Leaving us again," Pete said.

"I know where the fucking river is," Nick snapped back as he continued on.

Pete watched in him go for a moment before turning to Lee. "Anyway, I found that buck later that season. Shot it clear through the neck. I brought it over to my sister's, figuring she'd want to freeze some of the meat. Nick didn't speak to me for weeks. You gotta play a role, even if the people you love hate you for it."

Lee looked at the older man and saw a hint of sadness on his face. "I'm sure he doesn't hate you," he said reassuringly.

"Nick's father wasn't there much, and he was a piece of shit when he was. So, it fell to me to keep him in line, raise him right. Meant I couldn't just be nice Uncle Pete."

"Uncle Pete!" Nick yelled suddenly.

Pete and Lee were immediately on high alert as they both sprinted toward the river where they found Nick standing there staring.

"Nick," Pete called but stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of the carnage before them. Bodies littered the ground all along the water's edge, and by the looks of it, they were all shot to the death. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," he muttered as he scanned the scene. He walked up to one of the bodies and tapped it with the barrel of his rifle, making sure that it wasn't going to get back up. "Full of holes," he commented.

"Who do you think did this?" Lee asked as he too surveyed the scene.

"Not sure yet. But it ain't your average gang of thugs, that much I know," Pete replied.

"Think about it. You're Carver, what do you do?" Nick said.

"Who's Carver?" Lee asked.

Pete and Nick exchanged glances, which didn't escape Lee's attention. When it became clear that they weren't going to answer, Lee pressed for more information. "Look, there's obviously something going on here. This is the second time I've heard the name Carver mentioned. In fact, your whole group seems to be terrified of the man. I've got my group with you guys, including my girl. If there's a danger to them, I'd like to know about it."

Pete looked back at Lee and sighed. "William Carver is the leader of a camp a little way away from here. We used to be a part of his community."

"Yeah, until he went bat shit crazy," Nick commented.

Pete gave his nephew a sideways glance before continuing. "We didn't like the way he was running things, so we decided we needed to get out. But he won't let us go."

"Is he dangerous?" Lee asked.

"I'd say so. There's no telling what he'll do if he finds us."

Lee took a deep breath and looked at the bodies once more. "Do you think he did this?"

"Like I said, not sure yet," Pete replied. He looked at the bodies too. "Check those guys there," he said. "And be careful. Some of them might still be moving." He walked over and knelt down by the closest body to inspect it more closely, while Nick went to check the furthest one that was leaning against a log near the trees.

Lee walked over to the body wearing a black jacket that was lying on its side facing toward the river. He knelt down and glanced over its shoulder to the face. Seeing the large, bloody hole that mangled the face, he cringed a bit. "This one's shot too," he commented.

"Through the head?" Pete questioned.

"Yeah."

"Check the rest. And look for ammo, we're running low."

Lee stood up and noticed a few more bodies scattered on the sandbar. "There are more out there."

"I'll tell you one thing. This wasn't no rinky-dink pissing match," Pete stated as he stood up from his crouched position.

"What was it then?" Nick asked as he joined them.

"FUBAR," Pete replied as he started making his way toward the river.

"Where are you going? We need to get the fuck out of here!" Nick protested.

"Gotta check the rest," Pete said.

"What?! Why?"

"Calm down and think about it, son," Pete said calmly as he began to wade through the water towards the sandbar.

"Calm down?! We gotta get out of here, now!" Nick demanded.

"Jesus Christ, kid, get a hold of yourself," Pete said as he climbed up on the sandbar and turned to face his irate nephew.

"What if someone's alive, Nick?" Lee reasoned.

"Who cares?"

"Because just maybe they might be inclined to tell us who did this. We gotta do this now. Stay here, keep searching these," Pete told Nick as Lee used a rock to jump across to the sandbar.

"This is a dumb idea," Nick said, nervously taking a step back and looking around wearily as if afraid that whoever did this would jump out and start shooting at any moment.

"You know what, Nick, I don't like this either, but sooner or later you're gonna have to realize the simple truth."

"What? That you're an asshole?" Nick shot back, aiming his rifle at the tree line.

"That nobody in this world is going to give a god damn if you like something or not. You gotta grow up, son."

"Whatever," Nick said and walked off.

Lee watched Nick walk away. He turned to Pete. "He seems to have an attitude problem."

Pete sighed. "Yeah, he gets that from his mother. Makes it damn near impossible to get through to him sometimes." He walked over to a struggling walker that had been stabbed through the chest with some kind of spear. "Hmm. Same deal. Shot to pieces. Hope this isn't anyone you know."

Lee glanced at it briefly. "No," he replied as he walked over to two more bodies lying nearby and knelt down to inspect them. He felt kind of weird going through their pockets, feeling like he was looting the dead—and he kind of was—but he had to see if they had anything useful on them.

"Good," Pete said as he pulled the spear from the walker's chest and, using his foot to keep it in place, stabbed it in the head. With that task done, he took a look around and saw more bodies on the other side of the river. "Damn it. More on that side." Looking at Lee, he asked, "Find anything on those two?"

Lee stood up and shook his head. "No, nothing."

"Alright, then. C'mon. Let's go check the rest."

They made their way to the other side of the river. While Pete knelt down to check out one of the bodies, Lee kept an eye on their surroundings, making sure no one and nothing snuck up on them. As he was looking around, he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking over, he saw one of the bodies, now a walker, crawling towards Pete, who didn't seem to notice the danger approaching him.

"LOOK OUT!" Lee cried. He quickly grabbed Pete's shoulder and pulled him backwards as he pulled out his gun and shot the thing in the head.

"Shit!" Pete yelled.

"Uncle Pete!" Nick cried from the other side of the river.

"I'm fine," Pete said quickly. "We're both fine." He looked at Lee with gratitude. "God dammit. That thing almost had me. Thanks."

Lee gave him a nod in return.

"Shit, lurkers!" Nick cried as a group of walkers came stumbling out of the forest and started crowding around him. He took aim with his rifle and started shooting any one that got close.

"Nick!" Pete yelled.

Both Pete and Lee started to go help Nick until they saw walkers on their side as well coming straight for them. Muttering expletives, they both took out their guns and started shooting. After a few shots, however, Pete ran out of bullets.

"Shit! I'm out of ammo! Nick! Get your ass over here and help us!"

"I've got ammo! Come this way!" Nick yelled back, frantically shooting at the approaching walkers.

"God dammit, Nick! Just listen to me, for once in your life!" Pete shouted. He took a step back as Lee continued to shoot at the ones coming towards them, until he noticed more of them coming up from behind. "Shit! Behind us!"

Lee glanced back and realized they were pretty much surrounded. _This is not good,_ he thought. After shooting a walker that was getting dangerously close to him, he pulled out his knife and handed it to Pete.

"Here, take this and get the ones behind us."

"I'm on it!" Pete said as he accepted the knife and stabbed a walker that was reaching out to grab him.

Lee continued shooting, his sole focus taking care of the threat in front of him. After the last walker fell to the ground in a heap, he lowered his gun with a sigh of relief and turned toward Pete just in time to see the man stab one last walker up under the chin. His attention was drawn across the river, however, when he heard Nick scream. Nick had apparently run out of ammo too as he was using his rifle as a club to fend off the crowd of walkers coming at him.

"NICK!" Pete screamed.

"Go help him. I'll cover him from here," Lee said as he raised his gun once again.

Pete nodded and hurried back across the river as fast as he could. "Nick! I'm coming! Hang on!"

Lee took careful aim and started shooting any walker that he could get a clear shot on. Nick continued to beat them back with his rifle, while Lee thinned out the herd one by one. Pete reached the other side moments later and started killing more of them in a desperate attempt to reach his nephew. Lee watched this from the other side while continuing to shoot, hoping that neither of them would get bitten.

Together they managed to dispense of every single walker until none were left standing. Nick and Pete were left standing amongst a pile of bodies, surprised that they had managed to survive the onslaught without a single scratch.

"You alright," Pete asked.

Breathing heavily, it was clear that Nick was still a little shaken by the close call he just had. "Yeah," he replied. "Thanks." He paused a moment as he looked at his uncle. "I'm sorry, Uncle Pete, for being such a dick lately."

Pete blinked in surprise before a slow smile formed on his face. "That's alright, son. I'm kinda used to it by now," he said as he squeezed the back of Nick's neck affectionately.

Lee watched the byplay between uncle and nephew with a smile, happy that they made it out of that situation alive. The smile slowly slipped from his face as he heard the growling of a walker to his right. He whipped his head around to see one of the monstrous creatures too close for comfort and coming closer.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he stumbled backwards a few steps. He raised his gun, pointing it right between the eyes, and pulled the trigger. His heart plummeted in dread as he heard the ominous click, signifying that the gun was empty. "Fuck!"

Before he could do anything else, the walker grabbed onto his arm and sank its teeth into his forearm. With a cry of pain, Lee pushed the thing off him, causing it stumble and fall backwards. He then stomped on its head a few times until its skull was mush.

He stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily, as he waited for his heart rate to return to normal before looking at his arm. Blood soaked through a tear in his shirt sleeve and he could clearly see the outline of teeth marks that were oozing blood. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but at least the thing hadn't bitten a chunk of his flesh off. It didn't look like it was too bad once he got it cleaned up. Of course, it still presented a problem as he raised his eyes to look at the two men across the river. Both were staring at him with wide eyes. It was clear they had seen him get bit.

"God dammit," Lee whispered. This wasn't going to be fun trying to explain his immunity. He'd had a tough time trying to believe it himself when it was happening to him. Trying to explain it to other people wasn't going to be easy. Taking a deep breath, Lee started to work his way back across the river, hoping that these people were reasonable enough to hear him out and not just shoot him right off the bat.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Lee's Bite

Once he made it back to the other side, he turned to face the two men. Both stared at him for a few minutes, one with an expression of remorse and sympathy, the other with guarded hostility.

"Jesus, Lee. I-I'm sorry," Pete said sincerely.

"You two alright?" Lee asked, not wanting to broach the subject of his bite just yet.

"Yeah, we're fine," Pete replied. He looked down at the knife in his hand before handing it back to Lee. "Uh, here. Thanks for the use of it."

"So, you're just going to stand there and pretend that what we saw didn't just happen?" Nick said coldly.

"Nick!" Pete scolded.

"What?! He just got bit, and I want to know what we're going to do about it."

"You ain't gonna do a damn thing. It ain't our call," Pete argued.

"But…"

"No. That man just saved our asses. I think he deserves to see his friends and his little girl one last time. And then they'll decide what they're going to do."

"You can't be serious!" Nick yelled angrily. "After what happened last time…"

"I know what happened last time!" Pete snapped. "I was there, remember? You ain't the only one that lost her, kid."

Nick's eyes widened for a moment in surprise before anger returned. "Whatever," he scoffed and stalked angrily into the forest toward the cabin.

Pete sighed and turned toward Lee. "C'mon. We better get back."

Lee followed Pete back the way they had come. After a moment of silence, Lee said, "Thanks. And I'm sorry. I don't mean to cause friction."

"It's ok, and I'm sorry about Nick. We just had a bad experience once," Pete said solemnly.

"What happened?" Lee inquired, although he could probably guess based on Pete's earlier words about losing somebody.

"We took in someone who was bit," Pete replied. "I don't know what the hell we were thinking. I guess we thought we could control it. Anyway, she turned and my sister, Nick's mom, was standing right there. There wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it."

"I'm sorry," Lee said sympathetically.

"Thanks," Pete sighed dejectedly. "Nick was the one who had to take care of her, make sure she didn't turn. I don't know why I let the kid do that. It should have been me." Pete ran a hand over his face with a sigh. "Anyway, you probably had a similar experience with someone in your group. I'm sure everyone has."

Lee lowered his eyes, remembering having to shoot Duck after he was bitten. That had been hard. He had liked Duck, he really had. Even though the kid sometimes got on his nerves with all his running around, but he felt they had shared something back at the motor inn when Duck helped him investigate the missing meds situation. The kid had really helped him out, and he had been so proud of himself at the time.

"Yeah, Kenny's son," Lee said sadly. "He hadn't been much older than Clementine. I was the one who had to make sure he didn't turn. I couldn't let Kenny or his wife, Katjaa, do it. No parent should have to do that."

"Jesus. I can't imagine a kid going through that," Pete said. He glanced at Lee and caught of glimpse of the bite on his arm. And he suddenly felt guilty for bringing up the subject of people getting bitten. "Oh shit, I'm sorry. Here I am talking about past bite victims after you just…"

"It's ok," Lee said with a wave of his hand.

Pete looked at the man closely, noticing that he wasn't afraid like most people would be after being bitten. "You seem awfully calm for someone who basically just got a death sentence."

Lee gave him a sideways glance. "That's because it's not, for me anyway."

Pete's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "What do you mean?"

"It's not the first time I've been bitten," Lee explained.

Pete looked at him like he was crazy. "What? Then, how are you here now?"

"I don't know. For some reason, I didn't turn. I guess I'm immune. That's the theory anyway."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

Lee stopped walking and turned to face the older man so he could look him in the eye. "Yes," he replied sincerely.

Pete looked at him for moment, as if assessing his sincerity, and then nodded. "Alright, then." He continued walking without another word.

"So, you believe me?" Lee asked.

Pete turned back to look at him. "Yeah, I do, but the others might need more convincing."

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling," Lee said as he stared straight ahead, watching Nick getting more and more distance between them.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When the cabin came into view, Lee saw Clementine run out the back door towards him.

"Lee! You're ok!" she cried happily.

Lee smiled and knelt down to give the little girl a hug. "Hey sweet pea."

"We were worried about you," Clementine said as she wrapped her arms around Lee's neck in a tight hug.

"Sorry, Clem. Didn't mean to worry you."

"Lee," Kenny called as he and Cassie exited the cabin and came to meet him. "Where did you go? You disappeared on us."

"Sorry, man," Lee said as he stood up. "Got up early. You two looked so comfortable there on the floor, I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh yeah, comfortable as a rock," Kenny said with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't know. You guys looked like you were sleeping pretty peacefully to me," Lee said with a sly grin.

Kenny and Cassie looked at each other, their cheeks reddening slightly.

"Yeah, well…it was simply out of pure exhaustion," Kenny said.

"Anyway, what's going on? There seems to be a lot of tension going on in the house," Cassie said.

At that moment, Luke came outside looking worried. He started walking toward them.

"Guess we're about to find out," Kenny said.

"Lee? Is it true? Were you bit?" Luke asked plaintively.

"What?" Kenny exclaimed, looking at Lee. "When did this happen?"

Lee sighed as he raised his arm to show the bite. There was no point in trying to hide it. "Yeah. Back at the river."

"We got attacked by a group of lurkers," Pete interjected. "Lee saved me and Nick, but one of them snuck up on him."

Luke stared at the bite with wide eyes. "Fuck," he muttered.

"Oh no. Not again," Clementine said. She looked up at her guardian with fearful eyes. "You'll be ok, though, right? Like last time?"

"Last time?" Luke asked.

Lee opened his mouth to explain when he heard his name being called again. He looked past Luke to see the rest of the group walking toward them.

"Lee, Nick tells us you've been bitten," Carlos said.

"Yeah, but it's not what you think. I'm not going to turn," Lee explained calmly, trying to get a handle on this situation before it got out of hand.

"What?" Carlos said in disbelief.

"That's ridiculous," Rebecca said harshly. "We all know what happens when you get bit. There's no way you can convince us otherwise. We've seen it happen."

"Yeah, so have we," Kenny snapped, his anger bubbling to surface. "We ain't naïve, but it's different with Lee. He ain't gonna turn."

"Yeah, right," Nick said, crossing his arms across his chest. "You're just saying that because you can't accept the fact that your friend is going to die."

"Nick!" Luke scolded at his friend's callousness.

Kenny rounded on the younger man, his eyes squinted in anger. "Listen, vanilla ice, he ain't gonna die! He's immune!"

"Don't call me that!" Nick shouted angrily.

"Wait a minute, you think he's immune?" Carlos said, ignoring Nick's outburst. "That's impossible."

"Just because it's never happened before, doesn't mean it's impossible," Cassie argued.

"Hold on a sec. Why do you think he's immune?" Luke asked evenly, willing to hear out any explanation they might have.

Kenny and Cassie looked to Lee, deciding to let him give the explanation. Lee took a deep breath and took a step forward, lifting up the sleeve of his left arm to show the faint scar on his wrist. "I was bitten two years ago," he explained. "I didn't turn then, and I'm not going to turn now."

They all gathered around to look at the scar.

"No way. That doesn't even look like a bite," Nick said as he backed away.

"Carlos? What do you think?" Luke asked. He wanted to believe them, but it didn't really look like a bite to him either.

Carlos inspected the scar closely. "Hmm. It's hard to tell. It's pretty faint. It must not have been very deep."

"It wasn't. It happened so fast, but it was enough," Lee replied.

"This is bullshit," Rebecca said. "That scar could have been from anything. Doesn't prove anything."

"I don't know. Maybe they're telling the truth," Alvin said. Rebecca gave him a glare that had him immediately retracting that statement. "But yeah, they're probably lying."

"Well, I believe them," Pete spoke up.

Nick looked at him like he was nuts. "What? Uncle Pete, how can you believe this shit?"

"Because I happen to have a good bullshit detector. That's why you and Luke could never beat me at poker."

Luke looked down at Clementine who gave him a pleading look, willing him to believe the story. There was something about that look that made him think maybe they were telling the truth. "I believe them too," he spoke up.

"Oh no, man. Not you too," Nick groaned.

Carlos sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. "Luke, I want to believe them too, but we can't risk it. What if they're lying and he does turn? That could put all of us in danger. He can't stay with the group."

"So, what are you suggesting Carlos?" Luke asked angrily. "We send him off into the woods somewhere alone? What if he is telling the truth? You would be sending him off to die."

"No one said anything about sending him into the woods," Carlos said.

"Then what are you suggesting?" Luke asked, giving the doctor a steely glare.

Carlos remained silent as he averted his eyes to the ground, not wanting to voice what they were thinking.

"Now wait a minute," Pete jumped in. "How about we put him in the shed? That way he's away from the group, and if he doesn't turn by tonight, we'll know he's telling the truth."

They all looked toward the small building standing in front and off to the left of cabin.

"That rickety piece of shit?!" Kenny cried. "No way! We're not locking Lee up like some animal! That thing don't even look sturdy enough to keep out walkers." He had noticed a weakened spot in the wall near the back of the shed. If these people thought they were going to let them lock Lee up in that sorry excuse for a shed, they had another thing coming.

"Kenny, come on, man," Lee interjected calmly. "If it makes them feel better, maybe…"

"I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying," Kenny said as he turned toward his friend. "Lee, you can't just let them lock you up like that. Did you get a good look at the place they want to put you in? It's practically a stack of fucking toothpicks."

Lee glanced at the shed before turning his gaze back to Kenny. "Ken, I think you're overreacting a bit. It's not that bad."

"What's the difference, if he's immune?" Nick said.

Kenny gave him a deathly glare. These people were really pissing him off, especially the kid in the hat. "He's immune to the walker bite, not to death, asshole."

Nick's brow furrowed in anger. "You know what, this is bullshit! This ain't the way we do things. You get bit, you get put down. I mean why are we even arguing about this?"

"Boy, you come near Lee, and I will fucking end you!" Kenny yelled.

"Mister, I ain't a boy," Nick stated.

"No, right. You're a man," Kenny said sarcastically.

"Alright, that's enough! All of you!" Cassie yelled, stepping in between the two groups. Silence fell immediately as they all turned their attention on the woman. "Jesus Christ, you all are arguing like a bunch of kids! I swear, sometimes I think Clementine is the most mature one here, and she's the youngest!" She sighed as everyone looked at each other, feeling thoroughly chastised. "Alright, here's the deal. I know you guys are just trying to look out for your group. I get that, but so are we. Fact of the matter is, Lee is immune. I know that's hard to believe. I didn't believe it at first either, but it's true. I was there. Now you can choose to believe us or not. That's your prerogative. But if you choose not to believe us, then we'll just leave. Problem solved. You won't have to worry about Lee suddenly turning on you, and you'll never see us again because you are not locking him up in some crappy shed. That's not happening. So, what's it going to be?"

The group looked at each other in silence for several minutes. The silence was almost deafening to Lee. He knew this was going to cause a major conflict the minute it happened. People are set in their ways. Pretty much everyone knew that when you get bitten, you turn. Trying to tell them differently was almost a useless endeavor.

"Well, I vote they stay," Luke said, putting his hands on his hips.

"I agree," Pete said.

Lee was happy to hear that, but looking at the other group members, he knew they didn't agree. Nick was shaking his head in the negative. Rebecca had her arms crossed with an indignant look on her face, not at all convinced of their story. Alvin looked like he wanted to agree but didn't want to go against his wife, and Carlos had a mixture of guilt and sadness on his face.

Carlos looked at Nick, Alvin, and Rebecca in turn before taking a step forward and with a deep breath, began to speak. "Look, I'm sorry, but we can't have you with us, Lee. It's just too risky. Your friends are welcome to stay if they want, although that's probably not going to happen. I'm sorry."

Pete sighed and closed his eyes in sorrow. He really had believed their story. He wasn't sure why. Lee just seemed completely honest when he told him. Plus, it was kind of a nice idea. If it was possible for someone to be immune, maybe it was possible for there to be a cure.

Luke cursed under his breath. He had really liked the small group that had made a sudden appearance in their lives. They had seemed like good people, and he had enjoyed talking to them and getting to know them the night before. It was a rarity these days, meeting good, honest people, and he had hoped that they would be allowed to stay. It looked like that wasn't going to happen, which made him more angry than sad.

"Fine, then we're gone," Cassie said. She turned to Lee and Kenny. "Let's go guys."

"Now wait a minute. There's got to be a better way. You don't have to go," Luke said, placating.

Cassie turned back towards him and then looked past him at the other members of his group who all looked pretty firm in their resolve. "Thanks, but I don't think your group agrees. It's ok, though. We've survived this long. We'll be fine." She gave him a reassuring smile before turning and walking past Kenny and Lee to stand near the tree line to wait for the rest of her group to join her.

Lee and Luke locked eyes for a moment.

"I'm sorry for the way things turned out," Luke said solemnly.

"It's ok. I understand," Lee said with a small shake of his head. "Thanks for all your help. We really appreciate it. And also, thank you for saving Clementine yesterday. It means a lot to me."

Luke smiled. "Forget it. She seems like a pretty special kid."

Lee looked down at the Clementine standing next to him and smiled. The little girl looked back up at him and smiled back.

"Yeah, she is," Lee agreed.

"I could tell. We had some interesting conversations last night," Luke said.

"Really?" Lee asked, glancing at Clementine once more.

"Yeah," Clementine replied, smiling. "We shared funny stories. You should have heard the one Cassie told." She giggled slightly as she remembered the story.

"Well, you'll have to tell me about it sometime," Lee said in good humor. Becoming serious once more, he looked back at Luke. "Look, I know this is a lot to ask, but we're pretty low on supplies. If you could spare some, we'd really appreciate it."

Luke sighed. He would have readily agreed to share some of their supplies. He knew they had enough to spare, but it wasn't his decision to make since the supplies belonged to the entire group. He looked back at Carlos with a questioning gaze.

Carlos immediately shook his head. "I'm not wasting supplies on a lurker bite," he said as he turned and walked back into the house.

"Carlos!" Luke called angrily.

"What about the rest of us, asshole!" Kenny yelled, but Carlos didn't answer as he disappeared through the back door. "Fuck! That's it! I've had enough of these fuckers! Let's go, Lee." He turned on his heel and stalked toward where Cassie was waiting, clearly angry about the whole situation.

Lee sighed morosely. He wasn't angry. He understood why they were doing this. They were just trying to protect themselves. He was more sad then anything. They could have had a good thing here, good people, and a nice warm place to stay for a little while. Always being on the move was hard sometimes, never being able to just sit down, relax, and enjoy themselves, always being on guard 24/7. But now, because of him, they were being forced leave. Sometimes it seemed like they were never going to catch a break because every time it seemed like they did something would happen, and everything would fall apart again.

"Lee?" Clementine asked. "Do we really have to leave?"

Lee looked down into those amber orbs of hers and wished he could tell her that they could stay and that everything was going to be fine. "Yeah, Clem. Unfortunately, we do. You see, they don't believe that I'm immune. They're just trying to protect themselves and each other."

"Oh," Clementine said in understanding. "I wish we could stay."

"Me too, sweet pea. Me too," Lee said as he put a gentle hand on her shoulder and steered her away from the cabin toward the trees. He wondered what they were going to do about supplies. They were running pretty low on everything, and he had no idea where they were going to find more.

"Lee, hold on a minute," Luke called as he ran to catch up with them.

"What's up?" Lee asked.

"I've been studying a map of the area for a while in case we ever had to leave in a hurry. Anyway, there should be a city a few miles that way across the river," Luke said as he pointed. "You should be able to find some supplies there."

Lee gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks. We'll head there."

"I'm sorry we couldn't do more."

"It's ok. Maybe we'll see each again someday," Lee said lightly as he continued walking.

Clementine stayed behind for a moment and gave Luke a bright smile. "Thanks, Luke."

Luke grinned back. "No problem, kid," he said as he rubbed the top of her head, almost giving her noogie.

"Hey! You're making my hat all crooked," she cried with a laugh as she reached up to straighten her hat.

"Clem, let's go. We gotta get a move on," Kenny called.

"Coming," she called back. "Bye Luke." She gave a little wave and scampered off to join the rest of her group.

Dried leaves littered the forest floor which crunched under their feet as they walked. All evidence of the previous day's rain had been erased by the warm morning sun. However, no matter how many leaves covered the ground, the trees were still full of yellow, red, and orange leaves, painting the perfect picture of autumn. It was a beautiful sight. However, it also meant that winter was well on its way.

The air felt colder to Lee than it did an hour ago, but maybe it only felt that way because he wasn't wearing his jacket. He hoped they found a clothing store at this town they were heading to. Not only did he need a new jacket, but he also needed a new shirt since the one he was wearing was blood stained, which made it terribly uncomfortable. He looked down at the large red stain on his shoulder. The wound underneath ached some, but it was getting better. Actually, what hurt more now was his arm. It was throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

He lifted his arm and carefully slid the sleeve past the bite so he could get a better look at it. He could see perfect imprint of teeth marks. It looked pretty deep, but it had already stopped bleeding and the flesh surrounding it wasn't swollen or red, indicating that it wasn't infected, yet. But it needed to get treated.

"Lee?" Kenny said, looking back at him worriedly. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Lee replied, "just hurts a bit."

"Anything like last time?" Kenny inquired.

Lee looked up at him and shook his head. "No, nothing like last time. It throbs a bit more, but I think that's because it's deeper than it was last time. I'm not feeling any of the same symptoms."

"Good," Kenny said gratefully. "Guess that means you really are immune. Here, let me have a look at it." They stopped walking as Kenny took ahold of Lee's arm to get a better look at the wound. "God damn, Lee. Why didn't you tell us it was this bad?"

"Honestly, with everything that's been going on, it didn't occur to me," Lee replied truthfully.

Kenny sighed as he took off his backpack, opened it, and started rooting around inside. "Damn. We really don't have much medical supplies. I used the last of the bandages on your shoulder yesterday."

"What do we have left?" Lee inquired.

"A couple bottles of pain meds and about half a bottle of peroxide," Kenny replied as he pulled out the brown bottle. He could clean the wound, but without something to bandage it, it was just going to get dirty again, which risked infection. "Those fuckers could have at least spared us some medical supplies," he said in frustration as he gripped the bottle tightly.

Lee looked down at his ruined shirt and got an idea. The shirt was pretty much a lost cause anyway with the blood stains and the holes. At least it could be used for something. He started ripping off a strip of cloth from the bottom. It wasn't exactly clean, but it was the best they had. He handed the cloth to Kenny.

"Here, use this as a bandage."

Kenny glanced at it and nodded. "Yeah, that might work," he said as he accepted the cloth. Draping the cloth over his arm, he opened the bottle of peroxide, gripped Lee's arm, and poured it over the wound.

"Gah!" Lee yelped. "Jeez! A little warning would have been nice."

"Sorry, pal," Kenny said with a small laugh. "You knew it was coming."

"Yeah, but…god damn!"

Kenny smirked as he started wrapping the cloth around the wound.

"So where exactly are we going anyway? Any ideas?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah," Lee replied. "Luke told me there's a city a few miles from here just across the river. We might be able to stock up on supplies there."

"And we're supposed to trust him why?" Kenny asked.

"Because he didn't give us a reason not to," Lee replied.

"I liked him. He was nice," Clementine said. "I think we can trust him."

Lee smiled down at Clementine. "Yeah, me too. He did nothing but try to help us back there."

"I agree, and he did save Clementine from that runner," Cassie said.

"Alright, alright," Kenny conceded, as he made sure the makeshift bandage was tight enough before tying it off. "I can see I'm outnumbered. I guess there's no harm in checking it out. There, how does that feel?"

Lee looked down at Kenny's handiwork. _Looks good,_ he thought as he moved his arm around, testing to make sure it wasn't too tight. "It's good. Thanks," he said after a moment.

"Alright. We ready then?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah. Oh, Cassie, here," Lee said as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out Cassie's throwing knives. "I managed to procure these for you. Figured you'd want them back."

Cassie smiled as she grabbed the handful of knives, her last ones. "Thanks, Lee. Alright. Let's get going."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – A New City

It was several hours before the group of four saw a break in the trees finally. Vegetation quickly gave way to pavement and asphalt of city streets. As they entered the city, they saw a sign that read, "Welcome to Greenville". Despite the words, the bloody handprints on the sign didn't seem very welcoming.

As they walked down the street, they saw that the place was pretty wrecked and surprisingly empty. Of course, walkers sometimes tend to sit down somewhere out of sight until they hear something that sounds like lunch and then they swarm. Funny how they do that, almost as if they were baiting unsuspecting victims into their midst with a false sense of security, which was why it was better to always stay on alert no matter if a place looks deserted or not.

This part of the city looked to be more of business district. Shops and restaurants lined the street, and there was one tall building on the opposite side of the street with a sign that labeled it the Sunset Arms Hotel. Wrecked cars were scattered through the area. One blue pickup truck looked like it had slammed against a light pole so the front end was thoroughly smashed. A red mustang had crashed through one of the storefronts. Glass and debris littered the sidewalk around the vehicle that was stuck half inside the building. And a gold Cadillac had crashed into the side of a green minivan.

Lee approached the Cadillac and the minivan. The driver of the minivan, now a walker, was still strapped in the driver's seat. Lee could hear its growls as it reached for him, but with the windows closed, it was pretty well contained. The Cadillac's driver side door was standing open, and Lee glanced inside. The tan colored leather seat was caked in dried blood, and there was a trail of it leading from the open door to a large brownish red stain on the asphalt. It looked as if the driver of the Cadillac was dragged from the car and then devoured right there on the street, and whatever was left came back as a walker as there was no sign of a body.

Clementine leaned around Lee so she could see inside the car too. "Ew," she said, her face scrunched in disgust.

"Yeah," Lee commented absently. He felt sorry for whoever the driver had been, but he also felt bad that Clementine had to witness such carnage as this. He looked down at the little girl standing next to him. She wasn't as innocent as she once was when they first met. The harsh reality of this world had changed her a lot. She's had to grow up fast, and Lee wished that she could have more time to just be a kid. Shaking those thoughts away, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's keep moving."

A bit further down the street, they came upon several dead bodies, all of them had either been stabbed or shot in the head. Someone had definitely been there, someone alive.

"Well, looks like someone's handiwork," Kenny commented.

"Yeah, but the question is how long ago?" Cassie said as she knelt down to check the bodies.

Lee knelt down as well. "I don't know. Looks like they've been here a while."

Clementine kept her distance a little bit from the bodies as she hated the smell of decay and putrid flesh that was wafting from them, but then she noticed one of the bodies was different from the others. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward to get a better look. Her eyes widened at what she saw. This one didn't even look like it had once been human. It was wearing brown pants and a gray hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over its head so that only the lower half of its face could be seen. Its skin was gray and its teeth were razor sharp and stained with blood. And its hands had talon-like claws that were covered in blood and bits of flesh.

She took a step back fearfully as she wasn't sure it was all the way dead. "Lee, what's that?" she asked, pointing.

"What's what?" Lee asked as he looked up. He saw she was pointing at one of the bodies and stood up straight to get a better look at what exactly she was pointing to. When he saw it, his brow furrowed. "What the hell?"

"What is it?" Cassie asked as she and Kenny walked over to them.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I guess it's a walker, but I've never seen one like this," Lee replied.

"Uh, is it just me, or does that thing have claws?" Cassie said.

"The fuck? What is going on around here?" Kenny said in frustration. "Walkers were bad enough. Now we gotta deal with this…thing, whatever the hell it is?"

"Do you think there are more of them?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know, darlin'," Kenny said quietly. "I mean, when we ran into that first runner, we thought it was the only one. Then more of them started popping up."

"Yeah, but that's different," Cassie said. "The runners at least look like they were once human. The only difference is that they're faster than walkers. But this thing looks more like some sort of creature. I mean how could someone turn into that?"

"Alright. I say we find what we came for, and then we get the hell out of here. Agreed?" Lee said.

Kenny nodded. "Yeah, I can get behind that."

"Well, here," Cassie said as she walked over to a store she had spotted earlier. It looked to be the only storefront that hadn't been broken into. "This looks promising. No broken windows."

Kenny walked over to the glass door and pushed. It opened easily. "Probably because the door's unlocked," he said.

"Oh. Well, we should check it out anyway. You never know."

Kenny nodded in agreement. He pulled out his gun and pushed his way into the store closely followed by Cassie, Lee, and Clementine. The first thing they came upon was the check-out counter. The shelves behind the counter were completely empty and the cash register was standing open, its drawer empty too. Someone probably stole all the cash when all this began, not realizing that money would soon become useless.

Lee decided to check behind the counter to see what he could find while the rest of the group spread out throughout the store. Crouching down, he checked the shelves beneath the counter, but there was really nothing to find. There was a sheaf of blank paper, old receipts, and an empty Styrofoam cup, and that was pretty much it. With a sigh, Lee stood up and walked back out from behind the counter.

The rest of the store was pretty much the same way. All of the shelves were pretty much bare. The only thing that remained on the shelves were novelty items, stupid, useless crap that people buy only because it looks cool. There was a sunglasses rack that had been knocked over, scattering all different kinds of sunglasses everywhere. Lee knelt down and picked up a pair of nice-looking ones and slipped them on. He looked down into the mirror located on the top of the rack lying on the floor. He smiled, thinking that he looked pretty sharp.

"Hey Lee, did you find…" Kenny paused as he watched Lee stand up and remove the sunglasses all quick, trying to act like he wasn't doing anything, but Kenny saw enough to know exactly what he was doing. He smirked. "What are you doing? Trying to look cool?"

"Uh, well…" Lee stuttered as he fumbled with the sunglasses in his hands. "You know, you see some sunglasses, you just gotta try them on."

"Riiight," Kenny said, trying to hold back a laugh. He put a hand on Lee's shoulder. "Only you, pal. Try to find something useful while you're trying to look cool." He turned around and walked away, chuckling to himself.

"Right," Lee said, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment as he folded up the sunglasses and dropped them back on the floor. Then he heard a giggle and looked over to see Clementine in the next aisle peeking over the shelves with a huge smile on her face. "What are you laughing at?" he asked with an indulgent smile on his face.

"Nothing. I thought you looked good wearing those," Clementine replied.

"How long were you watching me?" he asked.

The smile slipped from her face and her eyes widened, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "I…wasn't," she answered slowly with a guilty smile before she quickly ducked down behind the shelves.

Rolling his eyes, Lee walked away from the spilled sunglasses intent on finding something useful as Kenny suggested. As he was passing Cassie, he could tell she was trying to keep a straight face.

"Don't say anything," Lee said, pointing a finger at her.

"What? Hey, I agree with Clementine. I thought you looked cool. You should take it with you."

Lee shook his head. "I was just…"

"Fooling around?" Cassie finished for him.

"Yeah."

"It's ok to have fun every once and a while. In fact, I encourage it."

Lee sighed. "Yeah, but now's not really a good time."

"There's never going to be a good time," Cassie replied. "But the way I see it, we're not running or fighting for our lives, so that makes it a good time in my book."

"I don't know what kind of book you're writing," Lee commented.

"The best kind, my own," Cassie said with a smile. "Don't sweat it. I find myself wanting to play with things sometimes." She looked around and spotted a toy gun sitting on a nearby shelf. She picked it up and aimed it at Lee. "Like this for instance."

Lee looked at it and saw that there was a suction cup dart inserted in the barrel. "A dart gun?" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I used to love playing with these things when I was a kid."

He glanced at the gun again before meeting her blue gaze. "Haven't you had enough of guns already?" he asked.

She looked at the plastic gun with a frown. "Hmm, good point." She casually tossed it over her shoulder.

Lee laughed and shook his head. "Cassie, I'm glad you're around. You make us all laugh," he said before turning and walking away.

"I try."

Lee walked over to some clothing racks, which were surprisingly full of clothes. He started browsing through the men's shirts, looking for one to replace the one he was wearing. He finally found a red, button-down, long-sleeved shirt in his size. Ripping off the tags, he proceeded to remove his old, blood stained shirt, leaving him wearing only a white undershirt. Slipping into the new shirt, he instantly felt better. The other one was getting pretty uncomfortable. As he was buttoning up the new shirt, he started looking through the jackets to replace the one he had left at the cabin. He quickly found a sleek, black leather one just like the one he had lost. He put that on and felt satisfied that it would keep him warm.

Once he got his clothing needs satisfied, he started looking through the children's coats. He found a purple nylon coat that looked like it would fit Clementine.

"Hey Clem. Come try this on," he called.

Clementine abandoned her search through the box of junk and came over so Lee could help her try on the new coat. It felt warm, but the sleeves were a bit too long.

"Hmm, it's a little big, but you'll grow into it. How does it feel?" Lee asked.

"Warm," she replied with a smile. "Thank you."

"Well, you two are looking pretty sharp," Cassie commented.

Lee looked up at Cassie, who was searching a shelf nearby. "Have you found anything yet?" he asked.

"No," Cassie sighed. "Nothing but stupid keychains and ugly ass sunglasses cases. I mean who in their right mind would buy this?" she said as she picked up a neon green case with purple stripes and a silly little picture on it of a cartoon character wearing dark sunglasses and a red backwards baseball cap. "It's hideous." She tossed it back on the shelf with the rest of them.

"Hey guys. Come here," Kenny called from the back of the store.

They found Kenny standing in front of a door marked "Office: Authorized Personnel Only".

"What's up?" Lee asked.

"I found a locked door. Could be something useful inside," Kenny replied.

Cassie looked doubtful. "Babe, it's an office. I doubt there's going to be anything in there but office supplies."

"It's worth checking out. It's gotta be locked for a reason, right?"

Lee thought about it for a moment. Was it really worth the effort of trying to get in there? It's an office so the likelihood of there being something useful in there was slim to none. But then again, one thing he's learned from living in a zombie apocalypse is to search every nook and cranny. You never know what you might find or what might be useful.

"I agree with Kenny. We should at least check it out to make sure," Lee said.

"Fuck yeah," Kenny said with a smile. He backed away from the door and raised his foot intending on kicking it down but stopped when Cassie stepped in front of him with her hand raised.

"Whoa, what are you doing? That's going to make an awful lot of noise. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention."

Kenny lowered his foot with a grunt of annoyance. He crossed his arms. "Ok, what do you suggest?" he asked snidely.

Cassie looked around for something she could use and spotted a couple of paperclips on a nearby shelf. "Ah," she said as she picked them up and held them in front of Kenny, "we pick the lock." She began straightening the little pieces of metal so that they were straight enough to stick in the lock. Then she knelt down in front of the doorknob and got to work.

Kenny looked over her shoulder and watched as she stuck the paperclips in the lock and started moving them around. "I didn't know you could do that," he stated in awe.

"Well, Kenny dear, there's a lot you don't know about me. Keeps you on your toes, doesn't it?" she said with a slick smile. She continued to shift the make-shift lockpicks around until she felt the lock give. "Yes," she said triumphantly as she stood up and turned the knob. "Viola. Door's open."

Kenny looked from the slightly open door to his girlfriend with a big smile on his face. "Hon, I can't tell you how much I love you right now," he said, giving her a quick kiss.

She laughed. "You can show me later," she said seductively.

Kenny smiled as he gently brushed her hair from her face. He then gave her a longer, more passionate kiss. And in that moment, everything else didn't exist.

Lee turned away from them to give them a minute. He looked down at Clementine who was smiling giddily at the two.

"Clem, why don't you check the rest of the store, see if you can maybe find something we might have missed," Lee suggested.

"Ok," Clementine said in disappointment. She liked it when they kissed. It was romantic and they seemed to be a lot happier afterward. It was nice to see them so happy, but nevertheless, she did what she was told.

After Clementine walked away, Lee glanced back at Kenny and Cassie and saw they were still going at it. He gave them a few more minutes and then decided that was enough. He loudly cleared his throat. They broke apart and looked at him.

"Could we?" he asked, gesturing at the slightly ajar door. They still had some business to take care of.

"Oh, right. Sorry, pal. Uh, allow me," Kenny said as he deftly stepped in front of Cassie so he could reach the door.

Pulling out his knife, he slowly pushed the door open all the way. His eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the bloodbath that was the room. Everything from the walls to the desk was painted in red smears and bloody handprints. And sitting the corner behind the desk was a walker. It was a male with dirty red hair. It was wearing a red polo shirt with the name of the store written on it and a nametag that read Greg. Clearly, he was an employee of the store before he was a walker.

"Jesus," Lee muttered in disgust.

The walker, upon hearing Lee's voice, turned its milky white eyes towards them and, with a low growl, started to climb to its feet. Kenny immediately walked over and jammed the blade of his knife into its skull before it could fully stand up.

Lee stared down at the body and noticed two things about it. One its fingertips were literally worn down to the bone, and two there was a dirty, old bandage half hanging off its forearm. Lee knelt down, took out his knife, and used the tip of the blade to push aside the bandage slightly so he could see the wound beneath. It was a bite wound.

"Lee, check this out, a first aid kit."

Lee looked up to see Kenny looking through a small first aid kit that was sitting open on the desk. He stood up straight as he put the knife back in his belt. "That makes sense. Looks like he was trying to bandage a bite wound."

"Why would you do that? That's a waste of time."

"Maybe he didn't know that the bite kills. I mean look around," Lee said as he gestured at the bloody marks on the walls. "It's obvious he's been in here a while. I'm guessing he was bitten when all this first started. Then he locked himself in here thinking he'd be safe until help arrived, not knowing that he was already dead."

"Jesus," Kenny muttered as he looked down at the body sadly. He felt sorry for the poor bastard. He had had no idea what was in store for him. In some ways, he felt sorry for the ones that were the first to go when the dead started walking, but in other ways, he envied them. They were completely clueless and didn't have a chance to live, but then again, they also didn't have to live through the hell of trying to survive in this harsh world. He shook those thoughts away as he focused on what he was doing here and now. "Well, this first aid kit is well stocked. Come on out here, and I'll bandage your arm properly," he said as he led Lee out of the room back to the check-out counter so he could have a flat surface to work on that wasn't covered in blood.

As Kenny set the kit on the counter and started taking out bandages and gauze, Lee took off his jacket and started carefully rolling up his shirt sleeve. Kenny took his arm in his hand and started unwrapping the cloth from his wound.

Cassie, meanwhile, walked over and stood by the front window and kept an eye on the street outside to make sure nothing was creeping up on them. She stared out the window at the empty streets beyond. She tried to imagine what the city had been like before. Cars driving by at regular intervals. People walking down the sidewalks, going in and out of shops and restaurants, talking, laughing, like they didn't have a care in the world. She missed that.

"Cassie?" Clementine said as she stepped next to the young woman.

Cassie looked down at the little girl and smiled. "Hey, Clem. What's up?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Cassie replied as she continued to stare out the window. "Just…I miss the way things used to be sometimes."

Clementine lowered her head sadly. "Me too. I sometimes wonder where I would be, what I'd be doing, if none of this ever happened."

Cassie looked at her sympathetically. "I do too sometimes, but we can't dwell on such things. Thinking about the what ifs will just drive you crazy. We have to focus on the present. Besides, if none of this had ever happened, you would have never met Lee, or Kenny, or me."

Clementine immediately looked back at the two men just as Kenny was finishing up bandaging Lee's arm. She smiled. "I never thought of it that way," she said as she looked back at Cassie.

"It's good to think about the positives, kiddo," Cassie said as she placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder. "I know they're few and far between, but they're there if you look hard enough."

"We ready to go?" Lee asked as he was putting his jacket back on.

Kenny finished putting the first aid kit in his backpack and then slung it over his shoulder. "Yeah, I think we're good. Girls?" he said as he looked at Cassie and Clementine questioningly.

"Yeah, we're ready," Cassie replied.

"Good. Let's get out of here before something else happens," Kenny said as he walked outside onto the street.

The minute he stepped outside, however, he heard a shrill cry, and a second later, a runner slammed him up against the front window of the store, creating a spider web of cracks in the glass.

"SHIT!" he yelled as he struggled to keep the thing from taking a bite out of his neck.

"KENNY!" Cassie cried fearfully.

Lee, however, was already in motion as he pulled his knife from his belt and jammed the blade into its skull with a sickening squish. The thing went limp, allowing Kenny to shove it aside. Breathing heavily from exertion, he stood up to his full height and rubbed the back of his head where it had impacted with the glass. He didn't feel any wetness which meant it wasn't bleeding, but it was still pretty tender.

"Kenny!" Cassie cried in relief as she wrapped him in a fierce hug, almost knocking him over.

"I'm alright, hon. I'm good," Kenny said reassuringly, trying to return the hug as best he could. She had grabbed onto him from the side, making it kind of difficult to return the gesture, so he settled for gripping the back of her head with his free hand. She didn't seem to mind.

"Are you sure?" she asked as she released him.

"Positive."

"It's not over yet," Lee stated as he watched groups of walkers closing in on them from up and down the street, drawn to their position by the runner's cry.

"Shit, walkers," Kenny said.

"What do we do?" Clementine asked.

Lee's eyes roved over the area, searching for a good place they could hold up in to escape the meandering walkers. That's when he spotted the hotel. "The Hotel! Run!" he yelled.

The four survivors ran as fast as they could toward the hotel. Cassie ended up in the lead since she was the fastest. She saw a couple of runners cross her path and start sprinting towards her. She stopped suddenly and fell backwards in an effort to keep from running into them. Sitting on the ground, she pulled out her gun and shot the first runner just as it reached her and then shot the second one that was step behind the first in quick succession, killing them both.

"Cass, are you alright?" Kenny asked worriedly as he helped her to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm good, but…" she trailed off as she looked around at all the walkers that were closing in on them from all directions. "I think we're surrounded."

Lee stepped forward with a look of determination. "Alright. Stick close together and make your shots count. We don't have a lot of ammo left," he said as he took out his gun, ejected the empty clip, and slapped in a new one.

"You got it," Kenny said, pulling out his gun and checking to make sure it was loaded.

He turned away from the entrance to the hotel and took a few steps forward, aiming his gun at the incoming walkers, and Cassie took up a position next to him. They both started firing, and walkers started falling left and right as bullets pierced their brains. But no matter how many were killed, more just seemed to keep coming until Cassie's gun clicked. Cursing under her breath, she took out the throwing knives Lee gotten back for her. Knowing that she had no choice, she started throwing them, taking out several more walkers, until she was out of those too.

"Shit! I'm out!" she shouted.

Kenny paused in his shooting to take out his knife. "Here, take this," he said, tossing the knife to her. "Slaughter the fuckers."

Cassie caught the knife in her left hand and nodded with a smile. She pulled her own knife from its sheath and gripped both knives tightly as she waited for the walkers to get closer. The first walker that reached her, she jammed one of her knives up under its chin, and then used her other knife to pierce the temple of the next one. Seeing the next walker lunging for her, she turned both knives around in her hands so that the blades were facing downward and stepped out the way, causing it to stumble past her. She turned and stabbed it in the back of head. Turning towards the next walker coming towards her, she jumped on top of it, knocking it to the ground, and pierced both eyes simultaneously. Then, she stabbed one knife into the foot of the next one so it couldn't go any further and then lunged upwards with the other blade, catching it in the face.

Surrounded by dead bodies, she took a breather for a quick second as the next few walkers were far enough away from her for the moment, until she heard running footsteps coming from her left followed by a loud scream. She immediately kicked it in the stomach and then lifted her knife to go in for the kill. She stopped, however, when she saw the thing cowering before her as if it were afraid.

"No! No, please!" it pleaded. Its voice sounded so normal.

She paused in shock and confusion. Did it just speak? Was there still a person in there somewhere? Was that why runners still exhibited human characteristics? She didn't quite know what to do. She always just saw them as monsters that needed to be killed, but if there was still a human being in there somewhere, how could she justify killing them?

Kenny saw her standing there shell-shocked, her right hand raised slightly as if poised for an attack, and a runner cowering before her in…fear? He didn't know what that was all about, and he didn't much care as he saw the thing rear its head up slightly, all trace of any kind of human emotion gone from its face, replaced by the ravenous creature it was. It opened its mouth, bearing its blood-stained teeth, and emitted a shrill cry. Kenny knew it was going to attack, and without hesitation, he pointed his gun at its right temple and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight into its brain.

Seeing the bullet piercing its skull snapped Cassie out of her momentary stupor. She blinked and shook her head, looking at Kenny, her eyes wandering to the still-smoking barrel of the gun. She took a deep breath. She had never hesitated in killing these things before, and it scared her that it had happened now. She was grateful to Kenny for killing it because in that moment, she didn't think she could have.

"Cassie? You alright?" Kenny asked in concern.

"Yeah," she replied absently, still staring down at the now dead runner who had spoken to her mere moments ago. She looked up however when she heard an animalistic growl, unlike anything she had heard before. Her eyes met with a dark-colored shape crouched on the ground some ten feet away from her. She realized it was the same exact creature they had seen amongst the bodies outside the store, only this one was alive and crawling along the ground like some sort of animal. It suddenly pounced on her like a cat, and she found herself hitting the ground hard with this thing on top of her, its legs straddling her waist. "SHIT!" she screamed.

"Cassie!" Kenny cried.

He pointed his gun at the thing that was on top of his girlfriend but turned at the sound of a runner coming up behind him. He grabbed the runner by the shirt, stuck the barrel of the gun underneath its chin, and pulled the trigger, sending blood and brain matter splattering out the back of its head. He tossed the body aside and turned back toward Cassie when he heard her scream.

Cassie felt the talon-like claws of whatever this thing was rake across her shoulder, leaving behind four deep gashes oozing blood. She screamed in agony and squeezed her eyes tight. But then she opened them again, and with a look of determination, she swung her arms upward, jamming both blades into the sides of the thing's head. Once it went limp, she quickly pushed it off of her and then pulled out her knives with a squelch. She sat there for a moment, breathing heavily and wincing at the stinging pain in her shoulder.

"Cassie! Are you alright?" Kenny asked worriedly, kneeling down next to her.

"Yeah, I'm good," she replied breathlessly. "Let's keep going." She offered him her hand in a silent request for a hand up.

Kenny didn't quite looked convinced, but he nodded, gripped her hand, and pulled her to her feet.

Meanwhile, Clementine was having issues of her own. It was easy at first. Just look down the muzzle of the gun, aim for the head, and squeeze the trigger. She managed to kill a fair few of them before a runner pushed its way past the slower-moving walkers. It looked right at her, screamed, and sprinted towards her. With her heart in her throat, she pointed her gun at it and pulled the trigger, but it was moving so damn fast she had trouble aiming for the head and only ended up hitting it the shoulder, which slowed it down but didn't stop it. Her eyes widened in a panic as it continued to advance towards her. She quickly dodged out of the way and then ducked under the grasping hand of a walker that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She tried to shoot it but found that her gun was empty.

She quickly realized that she was getting overwhelmed and made a beeline for a burnt-out car nearby. She practically did a baseball slide underneath the car to get away from the group of zombies trying to feast on her. Safely tucked under the car for now, she put away her empty gun and pulled out her Swiss army knife as she watched the undead shuffle towards her. The runner, of course, reached the car first. It immediately got down on all fours and started to crawl under the car to reach her, which put its head in prime position for her to stab it in the forehead. It collapsed right there as she pulled the knife back out. The walkers reached the car by this time. Most of them stood on one side, banging on the car, causing it to shake above her. A couple of them, however, also got down and tried to crawl under the car too, but she stabbed them as well. The bodies of those she had killed effectively blocked the others from crawling under too, which gave her the chance to crawl out the other side.

Lee, meanwhile, was firing round after round like a well-oiled machine. Each shot hit its target flawlessly, killing walkers and runners alike. He heard Kenny yell Cassie's name, followed by Cassie's scream. He killed one last walker and, after making sure no others were nearby, chanced a look at his friends to his left. He saw Cassie lying on the ground with some…thing sitting on top of her. It wasn't a walker or a runner. It looked more like that thing they found outside the store. He watched Cassie kill it and hoped fervently that she was ok as he returned his attention to the walkers in front of him. He turned his head forward just in time to see another one those things flying towards him.

"Oh fuck," he muttered as the thing tackled him to the ground. He grunted as he hit the asphalt, but didn't waste time as he managed to put the barrel of the gun right into its open mouth and pulled the trigger. With a spray of blood, the thing fell to the ground next to him. He sat up quickly and saw a runner coming right at him. He quickly raised his gun and shot it right before it reached him. With a sigh of relief, he climbed to his feet. The minute he was upright, however, a walker snuck up on him from the right and latched onto his arm trying to take a bite out of it. "Oh shit!" he cried as he struggled to keep it from biting down. He brought his gun up to kill it, but before he could, a bullet suddenly pierced its left temple.

Brow furrowed, Lee looked toward his savior. It was a Caucasian man in his mid-twenties to early thirties with green eyes and buzz cut. He wore a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He lowered his gun with a sigh.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah. Thanks," Lee replied.

Another shot rang out, killing a walker that had been attacking Kenny. Both he and Cassie turned around to see a Caucasian female in her twenties come running up from behind the man, her long dark brown hair flowing behind her. She wore a white hooded sweatshirt with black jeans and white tennis shoes.

"Alright! C'mon!" she yelled as she shot another walker. "Get to the hotel!"

Seeing no other choice, the group followed the two newcomers towards the hotel. Lee stopped however when he noticed that Clementine wasn't with them.

"Wait! Where's Clementine?! Clementine!" he yelled.

"Here! I'm here!"

Lee followed Clementine's voice to see her running out from around a burnt-out car that was swarmed with walkers on one side. He watched in relief as she ran right past them towards him. That relief turned to horror, however, when he saw another one of those things crawl out onto the street behind her on its hands and feet. It growled and then with a shriek it leaped into the air towards her.

"Clementine! Keep running! Don't look back!" Lee yelled as he aimed his gun at the creature flying through the air. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. It was a tough shot he knew, but it was one he had to make if he was going to save Clementine. He took careful aim and fired.

Clementine ran as fast she could, keeping her eyes on Lee the whole time. She knew something was coming up behind her as she watched Lee aim his gun in her direction. She knew it wasn't aimed at her though, and she didn't dare look to see what he was aiming at. He had told her not to, and she trusted him wholeheartedly. Even when she heard Lee's gun go off, she continued to run until she reached him.

Lee's shot had been true, and the thing was dead before it even hit the ground. By the time Clementine reached Lee's side, it had slide across the ground several feet until it came to rest at their feet.

"Damn," Kenny said, impressed. "Nice shot."

"Let's save the congratulations for later. Let's just get inside," Cassie said impatiently.

The group ran towards the entrance of the hotel. The man stopped at the door and waited for everyone else to get inside before sliding down a metal barred gate and running through the front door and slamming it shut.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – New Allies

They found themselves in the hotel lobby. With red carpeting and golden colored walls, it looked like it could have been pretty beautiful once upon time, but now it was pretty dull and dingy. The room was long and narrow with a check in counter on the right side with a couple of computers and phones, no doubt they didn't work though. There was a set of oak double doors on the other side of the room across from the check in desk. A sign on the wall to the right of the door labeled the room beyond as a banquet hall. Across the room were a couple of banks of elevators and to the right of the elevators was a door labeled stairs. To the left of the elevators was another door labeled employees only. There were a couple of circular, plush red couches in the middle of the room with a water fountain in between them. The fountain looked like it had dried up long ago though.

The front door looked to have been glass at one point but had been reinforced with sturdy sheets of plywood equipped with a wooden board that could be secured across the door by hooks on either side to prevent the door from being opened. After barring the door, the man turned toward the newcomers.

"Man, that was close," he said breathlessly.

"Yeah, thanks for saving us out there," Lee said gratefully.

"No problem," the man replied with a shake of his head as he walked away from the door. "We couldn't very well let you guys die out there. I'm Kyle, by the way, and this is Reggie." He indicated the dark-haired woman next to him.

"Lee. And this is Clementine, Cassie, and Kenny," Lee introduced.

"Can we make with the pleasantries later? Cassie's bleeding all over the place over here," Kenny said sharply as he inspected the cuts on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"It's not that bad," Cassie insisted.

"Yes, it is," Kenny argued. "Stop trying to be tough all the time."

"What happened? Was she bit?" Reggie asked.

"No!" Kenny snapped. "Why does everyone assume that? She was clawed by one of those things out there."

"Oh, you mean the hunters," Kyle said as he walked over to Cassie to take a look for himself how bad her wounds were. One look at all the blood and he had to agree with Kenny. "I think he's right. It does look bad." He looked over his shoulder at Reggie. "Reggie, go get John for me."

"On my way," Reggie replied as she disappeared through the oak double doors.

Kyle looked back at Cassie with a reassuring smile. "John's a doctor. He'll take care of you."

"Thanks."

With Cassie taken care of, Lee turned to Kyle with a question. "Now, what the hell were those things? Hunters?"

"That's what we call them," Kyle said with a nod. "Because they stalk you like a hunter does its prey, and then they pounce on you like a cat, claw the shit out of you before they start eating. Brutal fuckers."

"Where did they come from? I've never seen any like them," Lee said.

"Neither did we until we got here. This city seems to be crawling with them. God only knows where they came from," Kyle replied.

"Why are you even still here then if this place is crawling with them?" Kenny asked.

"We were going to leave until we came upon this place," Kyle said as he spread out his arms to encompass the area. "It seemed too good to pass up."

Lee looked around the lobby. It was definitely a good place to stay. "Yeah, this does seem like a good setup, especially that door." He indicated the front door with his thumb.

"Yeah," Kyle said as he turned to face the door. "I wish we could take the credit for that, but it was like that when we got here. Whoever was here before us went to town with the fortifications. That door is solid as a rock. Hasn't failed us yet. Plus, this place was stocked with food, water, and ammo. It was like a godsend."

"Yeah, I hear that, but it does beg the question. What happened to the people who were here before if this place was so well-stocked and fortified?" Lee asked.

"Well, the door was unlocked when we got here, and there were a few walkers wandering around the lobby here. My guess is they were bitten while on a run outside and turned before they could lock themselves in."

"Makes sense," Cassie commented.

"What the hell is this?!" a deep voice boomed as a large, well-built man with short, jet-black hair and menacing green eyes came stalking toward them angrily from the direction of the stairwell. With a white t-shirt, green jacket, and blue jeans, he looked like a football player and was definitely built like one too. "Who told you you could bring new people in here?" he asked Kyle.

"Gee, Deacon, I didn't know I needed your permission," Kyle replied icily, crossing his arms.

"We all live here! You should have consulted all of us before just bringing them inside!" Deacon yelled.

"Hey, look, there wasn't exactly time to have a debate. They would've died out there if we hadn't done something," Kyle argued.

"So? I don't give a shit. They're not our problem."

"Of course, you don't give a shit. You don't care about anybody," Kyle snapped.

Deacon scowled at him. "Hey! I'm just trying to look out for our group!" he shouted.

"No, you're trying to look out for yourself, like always."

"Everybody just calm down," Lee interjected steadily. "We don't want to cause trouble."

Deacon turned his looming gaze on Lee. "Good. Then get the hell out."

"We ain't going anywhere," Kenny stepped in, tired of this guy's bullshit.

"I wasn't talking to you, grandpa. So, shut the fuck up," Deacon said nastily.

"What did you call me?" Kenny asked angrily.

"I think you heard me, unless you need to turn up your hearing aid."

"Alright, what is going on here?" another voice interrupted. A middle-aged man with wavy, brown hair wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans came walking over to them with Reggie by his side. His brown orbs moved from one person to the next in a questioning gaze.

"On nothing, John. Deacon, here, just has a problem with us saving these people," Kyle explained, indicating the man with a wave of his hand as he turned away in annoyance.

John looked from Deacon to Kyle calmly. "Uh huh. That's nothing new. I was told someone needed some medical attention," he said casually, not wanting to get in the middle of this debate.

"Yeah, Cassie does," Kenny said, still staring daggers at Deacon.

John looked at the woman standing next to Kenny with her shoulder bleeding and nodded. "Ok, then." He started to walk over to her but was stopped by Deacon.

"Wait a minute," he said, putting a hand on John's chest to stop him. "We're not giving them anything. They're not welcome here."

"You're the only one who thinks that so why don't you just back off," Reggie said.

"Fuck you, princess! I'll do what I damn well please!" Deacon snapped, pointing an angry finger at her.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Are you seriously denying my girl treatment?!" Kenny exclaimed, getting up into Deacon's face.

"So, what if I am? You gonna do something about it, you pathetic redneck hillbilly?" Deacon retorted, not backing down for a second.

Kenny's hands balled into fists and began to shake in anger. How dare this asshole deny Cassie the treatment she needed? He knew those cuts weren't life-threatening now, but they could get worse if left untreated. They could get infected, which could ultimately kill her. He wasn't going to let that happen. He was about to punch this guy right in his fat face when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked over right into Cassie's brilliant blue eyes.

"Kenny, come on. Let it go. He's not worth it. Please," she said pleadingly.

Kenny's face softened and his body relaxed as the boiling rage inside him melted away. She always had that effect on him. She had a way of making all the anger inside him just disappear with the simplest words or gestures, or even by just looking into her eyes. That was one thing he loved about her, and he would do anything for her.

He nodded as he turned and walked away with her by his side. He didn't take more than a couple of steps however before he heard Deacon's irritating voice call out to him from behind.

"Yeah, listen to the bitch and walk away."

Kenny stopped in his tracks. And then there were some things he just could not let go. That was one of them. He had felt Cassie stiffen next to him. Even though her face remained calm, he knew that had upset her, and he felt the rage bubble up inside him once again. Before anyone knew what was going on, Kenny had spun around and decked him right in the jaw, knocking him flat on his back.

There was total silence as everyone stared in slack-jawed amazement at what just happened as Deacon lay on the floor for a moment. He then got up on one elbow and rubbed his sore jaw where a bruise was already forming, staring furiously up at Kenny standing over him.

"You talk about my girl like that again, and I will fucking rearrange your face! You got that?" Kenny warned, rubbing his fist.

Before Deacon could react, a blond curly-haired woman, wearing a pink hoody and black jeans approached them. "What is going on here?" she asked, her blue-eyed gaze looking down at the muscular man on the floor.

"Michelle," Deacon said, quickly picking himself up off the floor. "Nothing, babe. Absolutely nothing." He tried to sound innocent but was failing miserably as she crossed her arms and glared at him sternly.

"Oh really. Then what were you doing on the floor?" she asked, her gaze calculating.

He stared at her for a moment. Then he turned and pointed a finger at Kenny. "He hit me," he said, trying to put the blame on someone else.

Michelle's gaze turned to Kenny who crossed his arms confidently. "Then you probably deserved it," she said as she looked back at Deacon.

"What? No, I…" Deacon sputtered.

"Damn straight he did. Fucker called my girl a bitch. I don't stand for that shit," Kenny said.

"Damn it, Deacon," Michelle said in exasperation. "Why do you always pick a fight with everyone?"

"But I…" Deacon started.

"I swear, I don't know why I put up with you," Michelle interrupted as she turned and walked away angrily.

"Babe, wait," Deacon called as he chased after her.

Cassie watched the two argue as they disappeared into the stairwell. "Now who's pathetic?" she whispered to Kenny with a smile.

Kenny laughed and put his arm around her, careful to avoid her injury.

Lee stepped up next to them. "You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Kenny replied even though his hand throbbed a bit from that punch. He didn't care though. It was worth it.

"Did you have to hit him?" Lee asked casually.

"Lee, you heard what he said. I wasn't just going to let that go. At least this time I didn't get hit back," Kenny replied, referring to the time he punched Larry at the drugstore. That time it didn't go over so well.

"Sorry about that," Kyle said, scratching the back of his head. "He can be a real dick sometimes. Michelle can usually keep him in line though."

"She his girlfriend?" Lee inquired.

"Yeah, although I don't know what she sees in him," Reggie answered.

"Love doesn't always make sense," Lee said wisely.

"Isn't that the truth," Kyle said. "Anyway, when they're together, he's usually pretty tolerable."

"Uh, here, why don't I take a look at the shoulder," John suggested as he led Cassie over to one of the couches with Kenny following close behind.

As Cassie sat down and let the doctor check out her wounds, Reggie turned to Lee. "So, you guys hungry? We've got plenty of food. I can cook something up for you."

"Sounds good," Lee said, feeling his stomach grumbling in response.

"Good, and you're in luck. We've a got generator in the basement which provides us with electricity, so we've got a working microwave and electric stove. I can cook up something good." Reggie smiled brightly and walked towards the double doors that lead to the banquet hall.

"Generator, huh?" Lee asked, looking at Kyle with a raised eyebrow, now understanding why they couldn't pass this place up. It had a lot to offer.

"Yeah, although we try not to use it too much since gas is becoming scarce."

Lee nodded in understanding. "So, Clem, you hungry?" he asked, looking down at his side where he expected her to be, but she wasn't. "Clementine?" he called, looking around.

"She's over there," Kyle said, pointing to a bench along the wall where Clementine was sitting talking with another man.

"Who's that?" Lee asked.

"That's Ronan. Don't know too much about him. He doesn't like to talk about his past, but he seems like a good guy. He's helped us out a lot, and he's a crack shot."

Lee watched the two talk with interest. Clementine seemed to be glowing in his presence. He had never seen her look like that before and wondered what they were talking about.

* * *

Clementine took a step back. The minute she saw the large man walking towards them looking angry, she knew an argument was pending, and she was tired of it. She hated it when people argued, and it seemed to happen all the time. She didn't know why everything turned into a fight. Not wanting to be witness to another fight, she walked away and decided to have a look around. It was better than standing there listening to all that yelling.

She walked over to the white marble fountain and glanced inside. There was no water of course, but there were piles of all different kinds of coins sitting on the bottom. Obviously, people had used this like a wishing well when it was still in working condition. She remembered she used to love to throw coins into the large fountain at the mall. She remembered the first time she saw it when she was about five or six years old. She had been entranced by it as she ran over to it and looked into its churning waters, wondering why there was money at the bottom. She had asked her mother why, and her mother had told her that people throw coins in the fountain to make a wish. Right away, she had wanted to try it. She had thought it was the coolest thing in the world at the time. Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the fountain and stared into it, trying to imagine what it looked like when it was full of water.

The sound of a door opening brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a man walk out of the door marked "Employee's Only". He was a tall, Caucasian man with short, brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had stubble across the lower half of his face and small white scar across his left eyebrow. He wore black jeans, dark gray button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a black vest, and a black fedora to complete the ensemble. He also had a silver chain hanging from his belt loops that jangled as he walked, and tattoos colored both arms from his hands all the way up, disappearing underneath his sleeves. More tattoos could be seen on his chest under his collar.

Clementine watched as the man walked further into the room. He had sort of a cool swagger to his step as if he didn't have a care in the world. He stopped and viewed the scene with disinterest as he brought a cigarette that he held between his thumb and forefingers to his mouth and took a drag, blowing out a cloud of smoke into the air. He shook his head, turned, and sat down on a bench along the wall.

Clementine couldn't take her eyes off him. She didn't know why, but she instantly liked this guy. He was so cute, and he looked so cool. She stood up and slowly walked around the fountain towards him, never taking her eyes off him. She felt her heartrate quicken and she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. She didn't understand why she was feeling this way. All she knew was that she really wanted to go over and talk to him, but she felt so nervous at even the thought of walking over there. What was wrong with her? He was just a guy, like so many other guys she's met.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and casually walked over to him. Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest by the time she reached him. She stood awkwardly next to him, gripping her right elbow in her left hand. He hadn't noticed her yet, too engrossed he was in the argument taking place across the room.

"Um, h-hi. I'm Clementine," she said shyly. She felt her cheeks redden slightly as his dark gaze settled on her. She hoped he didn't notice.

He gave her a half smile as he looked up at her. "Hey, kid. I'm Ronan," he replied.

She smiled brightly at him. He looked away again, and she continued to stand there nervously, not knowing what to do or say, which was odd for her. She never had trouble speaking to people before. He looked back at her questioningly when he noticed she was still standing there.

"Did you want something?" he asked.

"N-no. I just wanted to come over and introduce myself," she answered lamely, not knowing what else to say.

"Okay," he said slowly. He laughed when she continued to stand there. "If you're going to hang out over here, you might as well sit down."

She immediately sat down on the bench next to him. Biting her lower lip, she looked at him trying to think of something to talk to him about. She felt really stupid just sitting here not saying anything. "I like your hat," she finally said. It was the first thing that came to mind.

He looked at her and smiled fully this time. "Thanks. I like yours too."

"My dad gave it to me," she replied immediately.

"Yeah? My wife gave me mine."

"Oh, your wife?" she said slowly, feeling disappointed to find out he had a wife for some reason. "Is she here?"

He lowered his eyes in sorrow. "No, she's gone."

Clementine felt bad now because she knew what that meant. She was dead, like so many other people in the world now. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was it…walkers?"

"No," he replied with a shake of his head. "It happened before all this."

"Oh," she said quietly. She decided to change the subject as she could see the current topic had clearly upset him. "So, what kind of hat is that? I've never seen one like it."

"It's called a fedora," he explained. "You know, like what gangsters would wear in those old movies."

"A fedora? Why is it called that?" she asked curiously.

"You know, I don't really know," he chuckled.

Clementine glanced down at the tattoos on his arm. "Did you draw on yourself?" she asked.

Ronan looked down at his arm and laughed slightly. "No. They're called tattoos."

"Oh. What's a tattoo?" she asked.

"Basically, it's when you get ink permanently injected into the skin to make a picture or words or whatever you want."

"Ouch. Doesn't that hurt?" she asked with a grimace, rubbing her forearm as if she was trying to sooth away an imagined pain.

"It can a little, but pain doesn't bother me all that much. I've felt worse."

Clementine wondered about that comment but decided not to push. Whatever he was thinking about, it didn't sound like a happy memory. She decided to ask more about his tattoos. "Why do you have so many?"

Ronan took another drag from his cigarette before replying. "It's a…a little something my dad taught me. Get a tattoo to commemorate an important event in my life. Needless to say, I have a lot."

"Oh," Clementine said, thinking that was a weird thing for a dad to teach his son. "So, what's that one mean?" she asked, pointing to tattoo on his forearm of a dollar sign in flames.

Ronan looked at the one she was pointing to and sighed. "First time I stole money," he replied.

Clementine's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected him to say that. A thief? He was a thief? He didn't seem like a thief. She looked at his face and saw the guilt written on it. It was obvious he felt bad about what he had done, so she wasn't going to judge.

"Why would you want to remember that?" she asked innocently.

"Let's just say I did a lot of bad things when I was younger, things I'm not proud of," he replied. "The tattoos are a reminder of that so that I can make up for the things I've done." He looked down at her and shook his head. "Jesus, I don't even know why I'm telling you this. I haven't even told them yet." He looked back at the group of people by the check in counter.

"It's ok. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," Clementine reassured. "Besides, just because you did some bad things doesn't mean you're a bad person. If you were, you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me. My friend Lee did something bad before, but he's not a bad man. He found me, took care of me, taught me to survive. He saved my life. He's a good man, just like you."

Ronan looked at her with a slight smile. "Lee, huh? Which one is he?" he asked, turning his gaze to the group again.

Clementine followed his gaze. "Um, the one not yelling."

He nodded as he looked upon the face of the one called Lee. He looked like a decent guy, and if he was willing to take care of little girl whom he just found, he had to be a good guy. Ronan wished more people saw him like Clementine saw Lee. Most of the people he knew in the past saw him as nothing more than a common criminal because of his past. That is until he met his wife, Julia. She saw something in him that he hadn't even seen in himself. She was his whole world, and he was devastated when she died, taken from him by some random guy on the street with a knife. All because she tried to stop a fight, tried to help.

"Ronan, are you ok?" Clementine asked worriedly. He had been sitting there staring at nothing for a few minutes now.

Shaken from his dark thoughts, he met her gaze and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The sound of flesh hitting flesh brought both their attentions to the argument taking place a few feet from them, which had now turned physical. Ronan laughed slightly when he saw Deacon lying on the floor holding his jaw and the guy with the mustache standing over him rubbing his fist.

"Your friend just earned my respect. I've been wanting to do that for a long time," he said with a satisfied smirk.

"What? Hit that guy?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah. One thing you've got to know about Deacon is that he's a first-class grade A asshole whole seems to enjoy pissing people off. I've come close to hitting him a time or two myself. Luckily his girlfriend always stepped in to smooth things over. She seems to be the only who can keep him in line." He looked over at the sound of a door opening to see Michelle exiting the stairwell. "Speaking of which."

Clementine and Ronan watched as the blonde walked across the expanse of the lobby, glancing at them briefly before continuing on her way. They listened as she confronted her boyfriend, who jumped to his feet. He tried to act innocent, like nothing was happening, but Michelle was having none of that. After a brief argument, she turned and stalked away angrily.

"Babe, wait," Deacon called as he followed her. He stopped her with a hand on her elbow, turning her to face him. "C'mon, don't be like that."

"Don't be like what?" Michelle asked, pulling her arm from his grasp. "Don't be someone who actually cares about people? I don't know if you've noticed, but people are starting to become extinct, compounded by the fact that there are people out there making it worse by stealing and murdering. I will not become someone who helps that along."

"That's all the more reason we shouldn't trust these people. For all we know, they could be murders or thieves," Deacon pointed out.

Michelle sighed and shook her head. "You know that might actually be smart, if that were really the reason you didn't want them here. But I know you too well. You just don't like people, except for me for some reason. Besides, they have a kid with them, in case you haven't noticed." Her eyes strayed to Clementine for a moment. "Do you really think murderers or thieves would be walking around with a little girl with them? Wake up. Use your brain for something other than keeping your ears apart." She started walking away again.

"Michelle, c'mon," Deacon called after her pleadingly.

"No, Deacon," she said, spinning around to face him. "Not this time. If you don't start trying to get along with people, then I'm not going to take it anymore." She disappeared through the stairwell door with Deacon following close behind.

"Wow," Clementine muttered, impressing by how well Michelle handled the man who, just a few minutes before, had been yelling and screaming at the others. The guy was actually kind of scary.

"Yep, she's a tough one right there," Ronan said, smoke billowing from his mouth. "Looks like we're about to have company."

Clementine looked over to see Lee approaching them. She smiled as he knelt down in front of her.

"Hey, Clementine. What are you doing over here?" he asked.

"I got tired of all the yelling," she replied. "I was just getting to know Ronan. Ronan, this is Lee."

Lee looked at Ronan curiously, wondering what to make of him. "Hey," he said in way of greeting.

"Hey," Ronan replied back. "The kid here has been telling me a bit about you."

"Yeah? Anything good?"

"Oh, plenty. Maybe we'll talk about it sometime," he said cryptically as he stood up. "Good to meet you, Lee. Nice talking to you, kid."

"Bye Ronan," Clementine said with a small wave. She was a little disappointed that was he was leaving. She wanted to talk to him some more.

Lee watched him go. He wasn't sure what to make of that man. Sure, he wasn't openly hostile like Deacon was, but he wasn't exactly forthcoming according to what Kyle told him. And truthfully, with all those tattoos, he looked like a criminal. Then again, Lee really was a criminal, and he hadn't been forthright with his group at first either. Maybe he was just reading too much into it. He shook his head and sat down on the bench next to Clementine.

"He's a little mysterious, isn't he?" he asked.

"No, not really. He told me a lot about himself," Clementine replied.

"Really? He set off any alarm bells?"

"No. I like him."

Lee nodded. "Ok then."

"Lee? Why did Kenny hit that guy?" Clementine inquired.

"Because he called Cassie a bitch," Lee replied.

Clementine nodded. She thought as much. It fit in with what Ronan said about that guy, Deacon. She looked past Lee at Cassie sitting on one of the couches while John took a look at her injury. "Is Cassie going to be alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. The doctor's taking a look at her right now," Lee replied. "So, Reggie's fixing us something to eat right now."

"Oh good," Clementine said in relief. "I'm starving."

"Me too. Want to have a look around while we wait?"

"Sure," Clementine replied as she stood up.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: So one thing I forgot to mention last chapter. The character Ronan does not belong to me. I took that character from a game called Murdered: Soul Suspect. I just loved the character so much, I just had to incorporate him into this story somehow. Anyway, on with the story. Hope you guys are enjoying it so far.

Chapter 15 – Enjoying the Little Things

The first place they decided to check out was the banquet hall. Pushing open the oak double doors, they took in the large expanse of the room. It was huge with the same décor as the hotel lobby. There were swinging double doors to the right with a sign above them that said Kitchen. There was large stage on the opposite side of the room, and the room was filled with large circular tables. Some looked to be untouched with white table cloths and silverware and dishes arranged neatly on top. Some were completely bare with nothing on them at all, and others were turned over, spilling broken dishes and silverware across the floor.

Lee walked over to one of the tables that sill had dishes on it. He looked at it with a raised eyebrow. He had seen in the movies where people would pull off a table cloth without disturbing anything sitting on the table. He always wondered if that worked or not. He shrugged and decided to try it. He grabbed a piece of the table cloth and gave it a quick, sharp yank. To his surprise, the table cloth came off and left behind the dishes and silverware. Some of them shifted a little but ultimately stayed on the table.

"Well, I'll be damned. It actually worked," he said to himself.

"Wow, cool. Let me try," Clementine said, after witnessing what Lee had just done. She walked over to another table, grabbed the table cloth, and pulled it off, along with everything that was on the table. The dishes and glasses shattered and the silverware clattered on the floor. She winced, her shoulders hunched at the horrible sound she had just made. "Oops."

Lee chuckled. "It's ok, Clem. It's not like we have to pay for it."

She dropped the table cloth and turned to Lee. "How did you do it?"

"Hmm, I don't really know," he replied. He walked over to a third table and tried again. Only this time, he was the one sending dishes crashing to the floor. "Crap."

"That didn't work so good," Clementine stated.

"What is all the raucous in here?" Kenny asked as he, Cassie, and Kyle came walking into the room.

"Uh, nothing," Lee replied, dropping the table cloth discreetly.

Kenny looked around before returning his gaze to Lee. "What, are you two breaking shit in here?"

"Well, not on purpose," Clementine explained. "You see, Lee showed me this neat trick where you grab a table cloth like this," she gripped a nearby table cloth to demonstrate, "and then you pull it off and…" She tugged the table cloth off and once again everything crashed to the floor. "Darn it. Well, everything is supposed to stay on the table, but I can't seem to get it right."

"I managed to do it once," Lee added.

"Oh, I know what you're talking about. I always wanted to try that," Cassie said as she strolled over to another table. She tried the same thing, but she was only half successful as only half of the dishes remained on the table. "Well, I was close."

"Uh, should we be doing this? We're breaking an awful lot of dishes," Clementine said.

"So? One great thing about the end of the world," Cassie said as she picked up a glass from the table, "is that you can break stuff without worrying about having to pay for it later." She whipped the glass at the wall, sending glass shards everywhere.

Kenny smiled and picked up a plate, twirling it between the palms of his hands. "You know, when I was a kid, I always had the urge to throw these things like Frisbees." He gripped the plate in one hand and did just that. The plate soured through the air like a flying saucer before smashing against the wall.

"Go ahead. Try it, Clem," Cassie urged, handing her a small plate.

Clementine took the plate, looking up at Lee as she did so as if to ask permission. She normally wasn't one to go around breaking stuff on purpose. Lee looked back at her before picking up a coffee mug. He threw it in the air slightly and caught it before slamming it onto the ground like he was spiking a football, sending shards of ceramic skittering across the floor. Clementine smiled and smashed her plate on the ground as well.

"Hey, that is fun," Clementine said.

Kyle stepped in at that moment, deciding enough was enough. "Ok, as much fun as this looks, I do have to step in here. We do still have to live here, and I think we've broken enough dishes for one day."

"Oh right. Sorry," Cassie said.

"Oh, hey Cassie. I saw a guitar on stage over here," Clementine said, excitedly, running towards the stage area.

"Seriously?" Cassie said, following the little girl. She climbed up onto the stage and picked up an acoustic guitar that looked to be in pretty good shape. "Sweet!"

"Will you play something for us?" Clementine asked. She always loved to hear Cassie play.

Cassie smiled. "Sure." She grabbed a chair to sit in and rested the guitar on her lap. She strummed her fingers across the guitar strings a little to make sure it was in tune before she began to play.

Little girl

Little girl

Don't lie to me

Tell me where did you sleep last night?

In the pines

In the pines

Where the sun never shines

Will shiver the whole night through

Kenny and Lee stood by the door listening to Cassie sing.

"Guess she's feeling better," Lee commented.

"Yeah. We were lucky. The doc said that he's seen those things rip people to shreds in a matter of minutes. It's a miracle she managed to escape with such minor injuries," Kenny said. He frowned as he pulled out his knife. Cassie had given it back to him after they got into the hotel. "When I saw that thing on her, I was so scared I was going to lose another loved one. I don't know what I'd do without her, Lee."

"Hopefully, we won't have to find out. She's good, Ken. She managed to kill that thing before it could do that much damage. Be thankful for that."

"Yeah. Thank god for that. You should have seen her out there, Lee. She was amazing. I admire her for that."

My daddy was a railroad man

Killed a mile and a half from here

His head was found in the driver's wheel

His body was never found

In the pines

In the pines

Where the sun never shines

Will shiver the whole night through

"I love to watch her play," Kenny said wistfully. "She absolutely lights up when she's performing. It makes her happy."

"She has a good voice," Kyle said. "It's nice to hear real music. It's been a long time since we've had music here."

"Cassie tries to play whenever she can, whenever we happen to find a guitar lying about," Lee explained.

"Which ain't very often unfortunately," Kenny added. He sighed. "I wish she could play more. It's her passion. And it's like, when she's singing, everything else doesn't matter, and you kind of forget that the world's gone to shit for a few minutes."

You've caused me to weep

You've caused me to mourn

You've caused me to lose my home

Little girl

Little girl

Where did you sleep last night?

Not even your mother knows

In the pines

In the pines

Where the sun never shines

Will shiver when the cold winds blew

As the song came to an end, Clementine smiled. "I love that song," she said.

"Me too," Cassie agreed.

The sound of applause had Cassie turning her head toward the three men still standing by the door. They were each clapping their hands and smiling. Cassie smiled in appreciation and felt the need to stand up and take a bow, which she did. Kenny walked over to her as she climbed down from the stage.

"That was beautiful, hon," he said as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Kenny."

"Hey guys," Reggie said as she entered the room from the kitchen. "Food's ready if you're hungry."

"Hell yeah. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," Cassie said as she started walking toward the kitchen.

"Yeah? Well I could eat a whole elephant," Clementine said as she walked next to Cassie.

"Wow. You really are hungry."

They all walked into the large kitchen and headed toward the back of the room where there was a wooden picnic table, presumably where the cooks and servers would eat while on the job. Reggie dished out the food and they all gathered around the table. Michelle, Deacon, and John showed up a few minutes later and took their seats at the table as well. There was small talk around the table as they ate their meal until the conversation turned to the walking dead.

"So, these hunters," Lee inquired, "you don't know where they came from?"

"Not a clue. I know we certainly never saw one until we got here," Kyle replied, before taking a bite of his sandwich. He took a moment to chew and swallow before he continued. "But like I said before, this place seems to be crawling with them."

"Don't you think that's weird?" Cassie asked. "That they only seem to be here in this city?"

"I suppose," Kyle said with a shrug. "But then a couple of years ago, I would have thought the dead walking around and eating people was weird."

"Touché," Cassie said.

"I was just wondering how they came to be," Lee said. "I mean, they're obviously not like normal walkers. So, what made them that way?"

"Who cares? We just gotta deal with them like we deal with the walkers," Kenny said.

"But there's got to be a reason," Lee said.

"I don't know," Kyle said with a shake of his head. "You're talking to the wrong guy on that one. John might have a theory though. Right John?"

John looked up from his plate, holding a chip between his thumb and forefinger. "About the hunters? No, they're a mystery," he said as he popped the chip in his mouth. "I might have one about the walking dead in general though."

"Yeah? What's that?" Cassie asked with interest.

John paused mid-bite and placed his sandwich back on his plate. "Well, I'm thinking that this whole thing is some type of virus, which explains how we're all infected. The virus doesn't actually activate until either we die or we get bitten. There's probably something in a walker's saliva that activates the virus, which then kills you and brings you back."

"So, what about runners? How come they act differently?" Cassie asked, remembering how that runner actually spoke to her.

"Ah, now my theory about them is that those people probably had stronger immune systems then most. So, they were able to fight off the virus partially. So, they didn't fully turn, which explains how they still retain some of who they were and how they're able to run, jump, and…"

"Speak," Cassie finished.

John looked at her with a critical eye. "So, you have heard them speak."

Cassie nodded.

"Wait. One of them spoke to you? When?" Kenny asked, looking at her.

"Outside the hotel when we were being attacked. That one that was cowering in front of me, the one you shot. It said, 'Please. Please, no.' Like it was pleading with me not to kill it."

"That's why you hesitated," Kenny said.

Cassie nodded, lowering her gaze to the tabletop, finding a sudden interest in the wood grain. "It floored me. That was something I never expected. I mean if there's a chance that there's a person buried deep down in there somewhere, how can I kill it?"

"My advice," Deacon spoke up as he put his sandwich down on his plate, "don't think about it. Just shoot."

"God, Deacon! Does the work tact mean anything to you?" Michelle said.

"What? I'm just telling it like it is," Deacon defended himself.

"Yeah, well, that's easy for you to say," Cassie said with a look of irritation on her face.

"Yeah, who the fuck asked you anyway?" Kenny snapped.

"Alright, alright. Look," Kyle interrupted before another argument could break out, "I'm sure what Deacon is trying to say," he looked sharply at the man in question, "is that killing them is better for you and them. Think of it as putting them out of their misery because there's no other way we can possibly help them except to end their suffering."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Cassie said with a nod.

After the meal, Cassie let out a sigh of satisfaction. Then she turned sideways in her seat, stretched her legs out on the bench seat, crossed them, and leaned back against Kenny's shoulder.

"Cass, I'm not a back rest," Kenny stated.

"Aw, but you're so comfortable," Cassie said with a playful pout.

Kenny shook his head but allowed her to continue leaning against him. He really didn't mind anyway.

"So, what's your plan?" Kyle asked curiously. "I mean where do you go from here?"

Lee took his last bite before rubbing his hands together to get rid of the crumbs on his fingers and sliding his empty plate away from him. "I don't know," he replied after he finished chewing. "We've been heading up north toward a place called Wellington."

"Oh yeah. I've heard of that," Deacon commented. "Supposed to be a safe place up in Michigan. Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me."

"Well, no one asked you," Kenny sniped.

Deacon shot him a dirty look but kept his mouth shut.

"You're welcome to stay here with us for a while," Kyle suggested.

"Whoa, wait a minute. When was this decided?" Deacon griped.

"You got a problem with us being here?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, actually I do."

"Deacon," Michelle sighed in consternation. "For once in your life, will you please be civil?"

Deacon reluctantly looked away from Kenny's angry visage as he angrily stabbed at his leftovers.

Kenny too looked away, muttering under his breath. "I swear if he says one more word, I'm going to beat him to a bloody pulp."

"Good visual," Cassie whispered back.

"Kenny," Lee said softly. "Will you stop starting fights?"

"I didn't start nothing. That was all him."

"But you're keeping it going," Lee whispered as he glanced briefly at Deacon to make sure he didn't overhear their quiet conversation.

"I said my peace."

"Look, you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. It was just a suggestion," Kyle said. "But before you leave, we could use your help."

"Help with what?" Lee asked, intrigued.

"You see, the one thing we're not fully stocked in is medical supplies," John explained.

"We don't have any to spare if that's what you're asking," Kenny said immediately.

"No, no. Actually, there's a pharmacy not too far from here," Kyle said. "The place is locked up tight so we figure no one's been able to get to the meds inside. The problem is it's crawling with hunters. It's like that's their nesting grounds or something. The last time we tried to get in there, we lost four people."

"Hmm, so you want us to help you get in there," Lee summed up.

"Yes. I figure there's probably plenty of meds for you and us, if you're willing to help us out," Kyle said.

Lee looked at Cassie and Kenny. "I don't know. What do you guys think?"

"Sounds dangerous," Cassie stated.

"Of course, it's dangerous, but we need those meds just as much as they do," Kenny pointed out.

"True," Cassie admitted.

"I say we do it," Kenny said.

Lee thought about it. One the one hand, Kenny was right. They do need the meds. That first aid kit they found wasn't going to last them long, especially with the way they had been getting injured lately. It was a dangerous world out there and shit happens. And they need to be able to take care of any injuries they might receive in the future. On the other hand, Cassie was also right. It's going to be dangerous, even more so with those hunters around. The question was, was it worth the risk?

Making up his mind, Lee looked at Kyle. "Ok, we'll help you out, but we need to make a plan before we do anything."

"Agreed," Kyle said, grateful that they were willing to help them. "Any ideas on how we get past those hunters?"

"Well, have you tried camouflage?" Lee suggested.

"If you're talking about covering ourselves in walker guts, it won't work. We tried that last time," Kyle said grimly.

"What do you mean it won't work? It does work. We've done it," Lee said.

"On walkers, yes, but not hunters. There's just something about them. They're different. Even when we were covered head to foot in walker guts, they still knew we were there. They pounced on us the minute we got there."

"Well, that's just fucking great! How the hell are we supposed to get by them, then?" Kenny asked, his voice tinged with anger.

"First things first, we've got to find some ammo. We used up a lot the first time around," Kyle said.

"We don't got much ourselves," Kenny said.

"We've been scavenging around the area, but we haven't come up with anything," Reggie said.

"Hmm," Lee said thoughtfully. "You wouldn't happen to have a map of the city, would you?"

"Yeah, actually. I saw a few at the front desk. I'll go get one," Reggie said as she got up from the table and left the room.

At that moment, Ronan walked in and grabbed himself a bag of chips from a shelf.

"Ronan, I'm glad you're here," Kyle called. "We could use your help."

Ronan strolled over to the table as he opened his bag of chips.

"Hi, Ronan," Clementine said excitedly.

Lee looked at Clementine and noticed her eyes light up at the mere sight of the man. He had never seen her act that way before and wondered what was going with her and Ronan.

Ronan's eyes strayed to the little girl who was giving him a little wave. He smiled in amusement. "Hey, kid," he greeted nonchalantly as he turned his attention to the rest of the group. "So, what's going on?"

"Kenny, Lee, and Cassie have agreed to help us get to the pharmacy," Kyle explained.

Ronan raised an eyebrow. "Really. Did you tell them what happened the last time we tried that?" he asked as he ate a chip.

"Yeah, he told us you lost four people," Lee said.

"We didn't just lose them. They were torn to shreds. You see those hunters out there are worse than any walker you've come across. They are fast and they are brutal, and they can pounce on you without you even knowing they were there until it's too late."

"We know. We ran into a few of them on the way in here," Cassie explained, absently rubbing her injured shoulder.

"We're willing to take the risk," Lee said.

Ronan looked at them briefly before he nodded. "Ok. I just wanted to make sure you know what you're getting yourselves into." His gaze turned to Kyle. "You know if we're going to do this, we're going to need more ammo, right?"

"Yeah, we were just discussing that," Kyle said just as Reggie returned with a map.

She walked over to the table, unfolded the map, and placed it flat on the table. Everyone gathered around it.

"Ok, here's the hotel," Kyle said as he pointed it out on the map. He slid his finger along the map to another point not far from the first. "And here's the pharmacy. Like I said, it's not far from here. We've already checked these areas here, but we didn't find anything." He indicated a few more points on the map around the hotel.

Lee studied the map intently. "There's a gun store about a block away from the pharmacy. Did you guys check that out?"

"That was the first place we checked," Kyle replied, "and like the pharmacy, it's locked too. There's a steel shutter blocking the front door, and the back door seems to be barred from the inside."

"We were able to open the shutter partially, but not enough for any of us to fit through. You'd have to be some sort of midget to fit through that open space," Reggie said.

"Maybe not," Ronan said as he turned and looked straight at Clementine.

Lee followed Ronan's gaze. "Shit," he sighed as he realized what Ronan was alluding to. He hadn't wanted to bring her along this time because it was just too big a risk with those hunters, but now it looked like Clementine was the key to getting into that gun store.

Clementine's eyes widened for a moment as she realized they were all staring at her now, but she quickly regained her composure and even smiled a little. Once again it looked like she was their only hope because of her size. She actually kind of liked it. It made her feel important, and she dreaded the day when she would be too big to do this kind of thing anymore. She had wanted to go with them anyway but was afraid Lee wouldn't let her because of the danger the hunters posed. But now, it looked like he had no choice.

"Well, shit," Kenny said.

"Wait, you're not suggesting we take her along?" Reggie said in disbelief.

"You got any better suggestions?" Ronan asked.

"She's just a little girl, Ronan," Kyle said.

"No," Lee said in earnest. "She's more than that."

"I can do it," Clementine stated confidently.

Lee stepped over to her and knelt down to her level. "You sure about this, sweet pea? You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Of course, I want to. I want to help," Clementine said.

Lee smiled and patted her gently on the shoulder. "Ok, she comes," he stated as he stood up straight and faced the rest of the group.

"Ok, we got a way into the gun store. What about the pharmacy?" Kyle asked. "That place is locked too."

"No problem. I can pick the lock," Cassie said.

"You sure?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah," she replied confidently.

"Ok, then. Sounds like we got us a plan. We get into the gun store, grab whatever we need, then get over to the pharmacy, and hold those fuckers off long enough for Cassie to get that door open. Once we're inside, we're golden," Kenny said.

"Sounds like a plan," Kyle said.

"Wait a minute. How do we know we can hold them off long enough for her to get that door open?" Deacon interjected.

"It's not going to take that long, dumbass," Cassie said. "You in or out?"

Deacon pursed his lips in consternation. "Yeah, I'm in," he replied begrudgingly.

"Good. Then keep your opinions to yourself because I'm tired of your bullshit," she said.

Deacon's brow furrowed in anger. "Don't tell me what to do, girlie. I don't take orders from you," he said heatedly.

"Deacon," Kyle scolded. "Shut it. For once. Because I'm tired of your bullshit myself. All this arguing is just wearing us all down. Give a rest."

"Fine! You do what you want!" Deacon said as he backed away from the table. He stalked to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"That shitbird needs to be taken down a peg," Kenny muttered.

"I suppose you'll be the one to do it," Lee stated.

"I already did it, remember?" Kenny said with a smirk.

"Obviously it didn't take," Lee pointed out.

"Anyway," Cassie said slowly, glaring pointedly at the two, "when do you want to do this?"

"First thing in the morning," Kyle replied.

"What? Why not now?" Kenny asked.

"Because there's a member of our group out there scavenging right now," Kyle said. "She won't be back until later tonight, and I don't think we should be doing this in the middle of the night."

"Morning it is then," Lee said.

"I'll show you where you can stay tonight," Reggie offered.

They were shown to a couple of adjoined rooms on the second floor. The two rooms were completely identical to each other. They each had two queen beds on the right side of the room with a TV sitting atop an oak dresser across from them. There was a desk along the far wall and a table and chairs next to the dresser.

Cassie immediately plopped down on one of the beds and laid out flat with an explosive sigh. "Ahh, beds. It's been so long since we've slept in beds."

"Yeah," Lee said as he sat down on the other bed. "Feels good."

Clementine climbed up on the bed next to Lee and bounced up and down a little. "It's definitely more comfortable than the bed at that cabin."

"Sure. Rub in the fact that you guys got to sleep on the bed while we were stuck on the floor," Cassie said good-naturedly.

"Hey, I thought it was pretty comfortable," Kenny said as he climbed on the bed behind her and snaked his arms around her waist, snuffling his face in the nap of her neck affectionately.

Cassie smiled. "You may have been comfortable sleeping on the floor, Kenny dear, but I am a girl who prefers to sleep in the lap of luxury."

"Oh yeah? And what do you call this?" Kenny inquired, indicating the room they were in.

"Compared to where we've been sleeping lately, this is definitely the lap of luxury."

"Then maybe we should take advantage of that later on tonight," Kenny suggested, kissing the crook of her neck.

Cassie smiled in pleasure. "Ooo, sounds good." The smile immediately disappeared from her face when she saw Lee and Clementine staring at them with dopey grins on their faces. "Uh, I mean, get your mind out of the gutter," she amended as she playfully slapped his hand.

"Hey," Kenny chuckled.

Laughing, she stood up. "Ok, we have a few hours to kill. What do you guys want to do?"

Kenny sighed in disappointment as he shifted so he was sitting more comfortably on the bed. "I don't know, Cass. What do you want to do?"

"I think we should get to know the people we're going to be working with tomorrow," Cassie suggested.

Kenny snorted gruffly. "You couldn't pay me to talk to that turd Deacon."

"I didn't say you had to talk to Deacon, Kenny. Strike up a conversation with John, or Kyle, or Reggie."

"I'd like to talk to Ronan again," Clementine said, smiling at the thought of spending more time the man she had only just met but was eager to learn more about.

With a cursory glance at Clementine, Lee nodded. He didn't mind getting to know the people they had just met.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Return of the Past

Several hours later found the group in separate conversations around the hotel lobby. Cassie, Reggie, and Michelle were joking and laughing by the front desk. Cassie and Reggie were seated atop the desk while Michelle sat in the chair behind it with her feet propped up on the desk. Kenny and John were standing by the doors to the banquet hall discussing medical procedures. Seeing as Kenny was acting medic for the group, he was trying to learn all that he could from the doctor. Ronan was leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed while Clementine sat on a bench nearby talking animatedly about what she liked to do before. And Lee and Kyle were sitting on one of the circular couches talking.

"So, how long have you known them?" Lee asked as he looked around at the different groups of people.

"Well, let's see. I knew Reggie back in high school," Kyle replied as he looked at the brunette in question laughing alongside Cassie and Michelle. "We dated for a while, but then we realized that we were better friends. When all this started, Reggie's brother got bit. Of course, we didn't know what was going on, so we took him to the hospital. That's when we met John." His eyes went the doctor who was talking to Kenny. "He was the attending physician. That place was in chaos though. There was a bite victim everywhere you looked. Then the dead started rising. People screaming. Reggie's brother turned and tried to take a bite out of her, but John pulled him off. The three of us managed to get out of there." He looked back at Lee. "We met Deacon and Michelle about a year later, hold up in some diner. We stayed there for a while. Figured it was a good setup. It didn't last though."

"It never does," Lee commented, his thoughts straying back to the motor inn. That place had worked for a while, but in the end, it all fell apart. Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he looked back at Ronan. "What about Ronan?"

"Ah, yes. We met him about six months ago. We had taken shelter in an abandoned house, and Deacon and I had gone out to scavenge for supplies. We got cornered by a group of walkers when all of a sudden, Ronan and his brother-in-law, Rex, showed up out of nowhere and saved our asses."

Lee nodded. "So, what happened to Rex?" he asked slowly, figuring that if he wasn't with them now, then he was most likely dead. But he had to ask.

Kyle lowered his eyes. "He died a couple months ago. He got bit, and he made the decision to kill himself so he wouldn't turn. Ronan took it hard. I guess we all did. He was one of us."

"I'm sorry," Lee said sympathetically.

Kyle shook his head and leaned back on the couch, stretching out his legs. "Man, what I wouldn't give to have a computer to mess around with right now."

"You like computers?" Lee inquired.

"I used to work in IT, so yeah, you could say that. Not that it matters anymore. Computers are of thing of the past now. But I used to mess around with computers in my spare time just to get my mind off things. I miss it."

"Yeah, I miss teaching."

Kyle glanced at Lee in interest. "What did you teach?"

"History at a university."

"Ah, a college professor. Guess that makes us a couple of smart guys. Guess that's why we're the leaders of our groups."

Lee shook his head. "I'm not the leader."

"Could have fooled me."

There was a sudden knock on the front door. Silence fell across the entire room as everyone stopped to stare at the door in uncertainty. Then Kyle stood and hurried to the door. Lee watched as Kyle opened the door to admit a dark-haired woman dressed in blue jeans, a black coat, and a white t-shirt. She carried a rifle and a big brown duffle bag.

"Did you find anything?" Kyle asked as he closed and secured the door.

"Not much. Some cans of corn and a few bottles of pills. No guns or ammo though," the woman replied.

Lee's blood ran cold when he heard that voice. He stood up and slowly started walking across the room, his eyes locked on the woman conversing with Kyle. No, it couldn't be. It was impossible, wasn't it? He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of the woman's face, and his fears were confirmed. It was Lilly.

Lee's hands clenched into tight fists at his sides as he stared at her, the image of a bullet piercing Carley's face flashing through his mind. The mere sight of Lilly brought it all back to him. The gaping hole in Carley's face. The way she crumpled to the ground. The blood that splattered and pooled on the ground underneath her. He hadn't let on at the time how much her death hurt him. He had had to stay strong for the group and for Clementine, but now all that pain and anger returned to him.

"Son of a bitch," Kenny muttered when he saw Lilly walk through that door. Of all the people they could have met up with, why did it have to be that bitch? Kenny had never liked her. That was no secret. He hated the way she was running things. She treated the group like it was her own personal dictatorship, and that hadn't sat well with him, which was why he was always arguing with her. But the way she just shot Carley point blank in front of all of them, that was the last straw. He wasn't just going to let that one go, and he was glad Lee had agreed with him.

Speaking of Lee, Kenny noticed Lee's stiff posture and the way his hands were clenched at his sides. He walked over to stand next to his friend to offer his support because he knew this confrontation wasn't going to be easy on him. Lee had cared for Carley, which would make it that much harder to confront her murderer after two years.

"We're going to have to leave eventually, Lilly," Kyle said.

"What? No. This place is like a fortress. We're safe here," Lilly argued.

"Yes, but it doesn't do us any good if we're out of food, and it's going to happen eventually. We all know this. We'll just have to find someplace else."

"No!" Lilly said more forcefully. "This place works. We're not just going to abandon it."

"Hey, you are not the leader here, Lilly," Kyle practically shouted. "No matter how much you want to be."

Lilly's eyes widened a bit and she lowered her gaze to the floor. "I don't want to be leader," she muttered.

"Really? Because you sure act like you do."

Lilly grunted in frustration. "I'm not going to get into this with you again." She turned to walk away but stopped in her tracks when she came face to face with Lee and Kenny. She gasped in shocked surprise. "Lee? Kenny?"

"Lilly," Lee said in a low voice.

It happened so fast that no one could quite tell who moved first, but in the blink of an eye all three of them were pointing guns at each other.

"Whoa! Whoa! What are you doing?!" Kyle yelled as he stood in between Lilly and the two men.

"Why don't you ask her?" Kenny asked, keeping a solid grip on his gun.

Kyle looked at the woman in question. "Lilly? What is going on?"

"Yeah, Lilly. Why don't you tell them what's going on?" Kenny sneered.

"Fuck you, Kenny!" Lilly shouted. "I see you haven't changed."

"Yeah, neither have you. You're still the same Nazi bitch you always were."

"Whoa. Why don't we all just calm down?" Michelle said calmly.

"I take it you guys know each other?" Reggie inquired.

Lee still stared at Lilly, feeling the weight of the gun in his hand. After a moment, he lowered it, knowing that Kenny would keep her covered if she tried anything.

"Yeah, we know her," he replied, his voice subdued. "Lilly was a member of our group back when all this started. One day we found out that someone in our group was stealing our supplies and giving them to a group of bandits who had been terrorizing us. Lilly accused Carley. Things got heated, and then…" He paused, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. "She shot Carley. Point blank. In the face. In front of all of us."

"Jesus," Reggie whispered, appalled.

"What?" Kyle exclaimed in disbelief. He looked at Lilly. "Lilly? Is this true?"

Lilly's eyes shifted from Lee and Kenny to Kyle and back again. It was a few minutes before she said anything as she seemed to be weighing her options. "You have to understand, Kyle. She was a thief. She couldn't be trusted. I was trying to protect the group."

"Bullshit!" Lee shouted. "You had no proof that it was her."

"I had my reasons," Lilly said.

"She wasn't the thief!"

"What?" she said in surprise.

"She didn't steal anything. It was Ben. He confessed it to me later. You killed her for no reason other than the fact that you didn't like her."

"That's not true!" Lilly cried angrily.

"Oh no? Then why put the blame on her at all when you had nothing that pointed to her? And don't think I didn't notice the look on your face when you shot her. That was pure, unadulterated rage. What she said pissed you off, and that's why you pulled out your gun and shot her." Lee paused and took a deep breath to get his emotions under control. "You know, I liked Carley. I might have even loved her. We could have had something special, but now I'll never know because you took her away from me." Feeling the weight of despair crashing down on him, he finally turned to leave.

"Lee…" Lilly began.

"No!" Lee exclaimed as he turned back toward her. "You know what the worst part about it is? You never even said you were sorry. Maybe if you had shown even the slightest bit of remorse for what you did, I might have been able to forgive you. But you haven't. Even now, when I told you that she wasn't the one who stole our supplies, you didn't say sorry. It didn't even show on your face. You know what that tells me? It tells me that I'm right. The theft was merely an excuse to kill her." He shook his head, unable to even look at her anymore, as he walked away briskly.

"Lee?" Clementine said as he walked past her, but he didn't even acknowledge her as he disappeared through the stairwell door. She was worried. She had never seen Lee that upset before. Even the moment Carley had died, he hadn't been that upset. Or maybe he had just been hiding it, trying to stay strong for her and for the group.

"Let him go, kid," Ronan advised. "He just needs some time."

A heavy silence fell upon the group as they all watched Lee walk away. Kenny felt a renewed anger toward Lilly. Seeing Lee that distraught was unnerving. He was always the strong one of the group, and he hated Lilly even more now for what she had done to him.

"What do we do?" Reggie asked quietly. When no one answered, she looked to Kyle. "Kyle?"

Kyle sighed and closed his eyes as he rubbed a hand over his face. "I don't know."

"We can't keep her with us. She's a murderer," Reggie said.

"Well, we can't just kick her out on the street either," Kyle argued.

"Why the hell not? It's what we did. She seems to have survived that alright," Kenny stated, staring straight at Lilly, who narrowed her eyes at him menacingly.

"You know I'm not the only murderer here," Lilly commented, looking emphatically at Kenny.

"Don't you dare go there," Kenny warned.

"Oh, I'll go there alright. This asshole right here killed my father and Lee helped him!" Lilly blurted out, pointing an accusing finger at Kenny.

"What?" Kyle exclaimed.

"Yeah, he dropped a 50lb saltlick on my father's head."

Kenny rolled his eyes. He should have known she would bring that up. At the time, he had truly been sorry for what had transpired because she had lost someone she had loved and it was tragic. But now he could care less about her feelings. Now she was just trying to save her own skin by discrediting him with his previous actions.

"He was already dead," Kenny explained. "I was just making sure he didn't come back to eat us."

"He wasn't dead!"

"He was dead! You just didn't want to admit it."

"We could have brought him back!"

"Lilly, he had a heart attack, not to mention a heart condition before that. He wasn't breathing. You said it yourself. There was no way he was coming back from that. Not alive anyway."

"We could have revived him if you two assholes had taken the time to try!"

"Hold it. Hold it. If I may interject here," John said as he stepped in between Kenny and Lilly. "Kenny, you say this man had a heart attack, right?"

"Yeah," Kenny replied, giving the man a cursory glance.

"Well, I can't say this for sure since I wasn't there and I don't know anything about this man's condition, but in my experience, it could have been possible to revive him with CPR. However, with a pre-existing heart condition, the odds of him staying that way are slim to none without immediate medical attention."

"Which we weren't likely to get even if we weren't locked in a damn meat locker," Kenny said.

Lilly glared at John angrily. "What do you know, anyway? You weren't even there," she snapped.

John refrained from pointing out that he had already said that and instead continued calmly. "I'm just offering my professional opinion."

"Well, who asked you?!"

"Face it, Lilly. He was dead, and me and Lee made the right decision in making sure he stayed that way. Get the fuck over it," Kenny said.

Lilly turned her furious gaze on Kenny. "Fuck you, Kenny! I'm tired of your shit! Where the hell is Katjaa anyway? She finally take Duck and leave your ass? Guess she finally got sick of your shit too, huh?"

Kenny's eyes widened in pain and anger. He stood there absolutely floored for a moment. It didn't hurt as much thinking about his family or even talking about them as it did right after it happened. But hearing Lilly talk about them in such a callous way, he felt like he had been stabbed in the chest it hurt so much. The pain he felt, however, was pushed aside to be replaced by boiling rage, but before he could act upon it, Cassie beat him to it.

Cassie had been sitting on the desk the entire time, watching the whole thing play out. She had heard stories about Lilly from Kenny, and she really didn't like the woman based the picture painted by Kenny's descriptions. But Cassie didn't actually know her, so she decided to let Lee and Kenny handle this. Until, that is, Lee walked away and Lilly had to go and mention Kenny's family, harshly. And that was the last straw. It wasn't so much what she said that had pissed Cassie off. It was the effect it had on Kenny. She saw the pain on his face, and that's what sent her over the edge.

"Oh, that is it!" Cassie yelled angrily as she jumped off the desk and made a beeline straight for Lilly.

Before Lilly could react, Cassie wrenched her gun away and knocked her legs out from under her, causing her to fall backwards, hitting the ground hard. Kenny blinked at that. He hadn't expected Cassie to go off like that. Usually, he was the one losing his temper and picking fights with people, and Cassie had to rein him in. Although, seeing her go to such lengths to defend him kind of made him feel a little better. It was nice to know that she cared so much. He felt the anger melt away as he watched Cassie tell Lilly off. It even kind of made him smile a little.

Cassie put her foot on Lilly's chest to keep her down and then pointed Lilly's own gun at her head. "Don't ever talk about Kenny's family like that again, you hear me?!" she warned.

Lilly tried to prop herself up on her elbows, but Cassie's foot on her chest prevented her from doing so. She glared up at Cassie. "What's it to you? Who are you, anyway?"

"Name's Cassie. I'm Kenny's girlfriend, and I don't like it when people hurt him like that."

"Cassie," Kenny called finally. "That's enough. Let it go."

Cassie narrowed her eyes at Lilly before she turned, shoved Lilly's gun into Kyle's hands, and walked back toward Kenny. When she reached him, he immediately rested his hands on her shoulders, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You alright?" she asked tenderly.

"I'm fine," he replied with a small smile. "Thanks, Cass."

She grinned and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll be in our room," she said as she pulled away.

"I'll be up in a minute," Kenny said.

When she was gone, Kenny rubbed a hand across his mouth as he turned back toward Lilly, who was now sitting up rubbing the back of her head where it had impacted with the hard ground.

"What was that about?" Lilly asked.

Kenny took a deep breath. "For your information, Katjaa and Duck are dead. Don't talk about them." Lilly looked surprised and she might have even looked sympathetic. But he could care less as he turned toward the others. "Let us know what you decide to do with her. But know this, if you decide to keep her with you, we ain't helping you tomorrow. You can forget it. We're gone at first light." He turned and walked away, beckoning Clementine to follow.

Kyle let out an explosive sigh as he set Lilly's rifle down on the nearby couch. He couldn't believe this was happening. Lilly had been with them for about a year now, and he had had no idea she was even capable of such a thing. Then again, she argued with him a lot about how things should be run, even though he had reminded her time and again that she was not the leader here, and she seemed to lose her temper quite quickly when he argued back. Maybe, if pushed far enough, she was capable.

"Kyle, what do we do?" Reggie asked.

"Shit, man. I don't know," Kyle replied as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Kyle," Lilly said as she got up off the floor. "There's something you need to know about Lee."

"No, no, no," Ronan said as he stepped in front of her, shaking his head. "That's enough of that. Stop trying to shift blame onto other people. It doesn't change what you did. You killed someone, Lilly. In cold blood. For no reason. That's not something we can just forgive and forget. Now I don't care what they did. They just got here. They're not a part of the group, but you…you've been here longer than I have. You've been here, what, a year? And you never said anything about any of this."

Lilly scowled. "I didn't think you needed to know."

Ronan shook his head. "Lee was right. You're not even sorry, are you? We're supposed to trust each other. How the hell can we trust you now?"

"Well, what about you?" Lilly said, getting up into Ronan's face. "You've been here for six months, and you haven't told us anything about yourself. What are you hiding, huh? Maybe you killed someone too."

Ronan looked at her calmly. "You want to know? Fine. I'll tell you. When I was younger, I did a lot of stupid stuff, things I'm not proud of. I stole money. I stole cars. I got into a lot of fights. Got arrested a few times. But you know what? That was twenty years ago. I've been trying to make up for it ever since. I've spent my entire adult life trying to make up for the mistakes I made. But the things I did pales in comparison to what you did, so don't try to turn this around on me." He sighed as he looked at Kyle. "You guys figure out what you want to do. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thanks, Ronan," Kyle said. He and the others moved a little bit away from where Lilly was standing so they could talk more privately. He looked at the other members of his group. "Alright. What do you guys think we should do?"

"I vote we kick her out. She's too dangerous to keep around here," Michelle stated.

"But we can't just kick her out onto the street," Reggie argued.

"Wait a minute. Weren't you the one who said before that we can't keep her around?" Michelle asked.

"Yes, but Kyle made a good point. If we kick her out now, it'll be the same as killing her," Reggie pointed out.

"She managed to survive before. She should be fine this time too."

"Not in this city," John said.

"Hey, what's going on?" Deacon suddenly appeared looking very confused.

"We're trying to decide what we should do with Lilly," Kyle replied.

"Lilly?" Deacon said, looking at Lilly who was leaning against the desk with her arms crossed and an angry scowl on her face. "What about her?"

"She's a murderer," Reggie explained. "Lee and Kenny said she killed a member of their group in cold blood."

"And why are we believing them?" Deacon asked skeptically.

"Because Lilly confirmed it," Kyle answered with a heavy sigh.

"Well, shit." Deacon paused. "Fuck it. Kick her out then."

"That's what I was just saying," Michelle said.

"And as Reggie and I said before, we can't just kick her out. Not in the dark anyway. She wouldn't stand a chance out there with all those hunters lurking about. Look, I suggest we tie her up and we lock her up in one of the rooms. We can decide what to do with her in the morning. Fair enough?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Whatever, man. Just make sure she's as far away from me as possible. I don't need my back stabbed in the middle of the night," Deacon said as he and Michelle walked away.

Kyle turned to Reggie. "Take care of it. Have Ronan help you. I'm going to let Lee and Kenny know what we're doing."

"You got it."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Lilly's Revelation and Clementine's Lesson

Lilly couldn't believe it. One minute she had had it all. She was with a good group. They were safe and secure at this hotel, and they had plenty of supplies. She was set. And then Lee and Kenny had to show up and ruin everything. Now she was lying on a bed in the one of the rooms with her hands tied to the wooden headboard.

Of all the people she could have run into again, why did it have to be those two idiots? Ever since she met those two, she had had nothing but problems. It started with the constant fights with Kenny about how things should be run, and Lee didn't help matters by always siding with him. Then they both killed her father without even taking the time to try to save him. Then they left her on the side of the road with nothing when she was just trying to protect the group. Ok, so maybe she had been a little hasty when she shot Carley, and yeah, what Carley had said to her at that moment had pissed her off. But that wasn't why she pulled the trigger. Was it?

Lilly shook her head. Now they had her doubting herself, which wasn't what she needed right now.

No, this wasn't going to happen. She wasn't going to let those two assholes take another group from her. Not again. But then, what could she do? The group now knew what she had done, what she was capable of. She couldn't take it back. She couldn't undo it. And there was no way she could convince them to let her stay, especially Kyle. He was too much of a straight arrow. He didn't believe in killing people, even if they deserved it. There was only one thing she could do. If she was going to get kicked out, she might as well do something that warranted it, something a little more recent. She had to take out Lee and Kenny.

Yeah, she thought. That's what she'll do. Then she wouldn't have to worry about them coming back again to ruin her life. Then…then the next group she meets, they won't ever have to know what she had done. She could stay with them indefinitely. This group was lost, but she could find another.

Giggling almost hysterically, she shifted so that she could reach her fingers behind the headboard, searching for a way to maybe untie the ropes. Her questing fingers felt the sharp sting of splintered wood on the back of the headboard where she was tied, which gave her an idea. She started moving her hands up and down across the wood, hoping the wood was splintered enough to fray the ropes so she could break free.

It seemed to take forever before she finally felt some give in the ropes. She pulled hard on them until finally the ropes snapped and she was free at last. With a sigh of relief, she unwound the rest of the ropes from her sore wrists and got up from the bed. She knelt down to check her boot. They had taken all her weapons before they locked her in, but there was one they didn't know about. She always kept a small gun in her boot just in case she was ever left alone without weapons again. Satisfied that the gun was still there, she stood up and left the room.

She didn't know which room Lee and Kenny were in, but it wouldn't be too difficult to find them. When they had first gotten to the hotel, they had searched every room on the first and second floors. They had also left every door open except for the ones they were staying in so they could easily see if someone tried to break in through a window or something. She knew which rooms the others were staying in. So, all she had to do was find a door that was closed that she knew hadn't been before.

She walked quietly down the hall, peering into each room just in case. When she didn't find them on the first floor, she moved on to the second. When she found two closed doors right next to each other, she knew this had to be it. She put her ear to the first door she came across and heard voices inside. She very carefully turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack so she could look in.

She saw Lee sitting on the one of the beds, rubbing his forehead, and Clementine was sitting at the desk at the far end of the room drawing from the looks of it. This was going to be tricky. She didn't want to hurt Clementine or do this in front of her. And she really had no beef with the other woman, Cassie, either even though Cassie had knocked her on her ass earlier. That she had to admit was warranted. She had to wait for the right moment. So, she stood and she watched.

Lee sighed as he lowered his hand and looked over at Clementine. He then stood up and walked up behind her.

"Hey, sweet pea. What are you drawing?" he asked curiously.

"Uh, nothing," she replied, quickly turning away from Lee and tearing the page she had been doodling on from the notebook. She folded it up into a square and stuck it in her back pocket as she stood up from the desk. "I'm going to go for a walk."

"Well, alright then," Lee said quietly as he watched her leave with a puzzled expression on his face.

Realizing Clementine was leaving, Lilly quietly closed the door and slipped into the room next door, quickly hiding behind the open door. She peered into the hallway and watched Clementine walk past. She smiled. This was perfect. Now Lee was alone. This was her chance. She went back into the hall and tiptoed to Lee's door once again. She quietly opened the door a crack and peered inside to make sure he was still alone. Then she pulled out her gun and was just about to bust in there when she heard the door to the adjoining room open. _Damn,_ she thought as she saw Kenny and Cassie enter the room.

"Hey, Lee," Kenny greeted.

"Oh, hey guys. I thought you guys were, you know, going to bed," Lee said with a silly grin on his face.

"We are," Kenny said with a roll of his eyes. "But first I want to change your bandages." He put his backpack on the nearby table and pulled out the first aid kit.

"Oh. Alright," Lee said as he sat back down on the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"So, Lee," Cassie said as she plopped down on the other bed, "where's Clementine?"

"Oh, she…went for a walk," Lee replied as Kenny started to remove the bandages from his shoulder.

Cassie gave him a calculating look. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"What?"

"You've got this troubled vibe about you. What's up?"

"Oh, I don't know. She was just acting strange, that's all."

"Strange how?" Kenny inquired as he examined the stab wound. Seemingly satisfied that it was healing ok, he started wrapping it with fresh bandages.

"Well, she was drawing something in that notebook over there," Lee replied, indicating the notebook left on the desktop. "I asked her what she was drawing. She said it was nothing, but then she quickly tore the page out of the notebook, stuck it in her pocket, and said she was going for a walk. She wouldn't even let me see it."

"Sounds like she's becoming a teenager to me," Cassie said with a grin.

"But she's not a teenager yet. She's still got a couple of years to go," Lee said.

"Yeah, well, it's close enough. Or maybe she just got her…" Cassie began.

"Uh, hon, I don't think we need to go there," Kenny interrupted, knowing full well where she was going with that. "Besides, ain't she a little young for that?"

"Some girls get it at eleven. Some get it later," Cassie said with a shrug. "You want me to talk to her?"

"No, that's alright. Just leave her be. Besides, I'm sure it's not…that. Jesus, I'm not ready for this," Lee said, rubbing his forehead.

"Don't worry, pal. I'm sure you're right. I'm sure it's not…that." Kenny cleared his throat uncomfortably as he finished tying off the bandage. "Anyway, how does that feel?"

"Feels good," Lee stated as he tested his range of motion.

"Alright. Now let's check that arm."

Lilly was getting increasingly impatient as she watched Kenny unwrap the bandage from Lee's arm. This was taking entirely too long. The longer she stood out here, the more chance of her being discovered. She needed to take care of this now. She was about to bust in there and take them all on when she caught sight of the bite wound on Lee's arm. She froze and stared with wide eyes. Lee was bitten? And they all knew about it. They were treating it like it was a normal wound. They were keeping it a secret. How could they be so stupid? Keeping something like this from the rest of them, it was dangerous. It could lead to more deaths. She had to let the others know of the potential threat Lee now posed.

She closed the door quietly and backed away from the door. She started walking down the hallway but paused as she looked down at the gun in her hand. What was she thinking? What had she been about to do? Just go in there and shoot them all? That was a sure-fire way to prove to everyone that she really was a cold-blooded killer. She had really been out of her head for a minute there. She shook her head and tucked the gun back into her boot. She was thinking clearly now. She had to warn the others.

* * *

Clementine walked down the stairs but stopped on the landing and took out the piece of paper she had stuffed in her pocket. She unfolded it and stared down at the doodles she had drawn. They were pretty much all the same. R + C inside of a heart. She remembered where she had seen those drawings before. Her older cousin, Tiffany, had come to visit one time. Clementine had found her drawing those same doodles all over her notebook. Clementine had asked what they meant, and Tiffany explained that it was her initials and the initials of a boy she really liked. She had a crush on him and those were her way of expressing her feelings privately.

Clementine folded the paper back up with a sigh. So, she had a crush on Ronan. Big deal. She wasn't embarrassed about it. He was just so…cool. Of course, if that were true then why didn't she want Lee to see those drawings? Why did she feel herself blush as she was leaving the room? She shook her head. This was all so confusing. She stuffed the paper back in her pocket and continued down the stairs.

As Clementine entered the lobby, she saw Ronan walking through the door marked employees only out of the corner of her. That was the second time she had seen him going through that door, and she wondered what he was doing in there. Curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to follow him and found herself in a dingy white hallway. With no sign as to where Ronan disappeared to, she started to make her way down the hall, her shoes squeaking on the linoleum floor. She came to a door marked basement where she stopped. She heard some sort of popping noises from inside. When she opened the door, she quickly realized that the sounds were actually gunshots.

She walked slowly down the concrete steps that lead into a huge expanse of a room that was surprisingly well-lit considering, as far as she knew, the generators weren't on so there was no electricity. It looked pretty empty from where she was with stone walls and concrete floors, but as she walked further in, she realized it wasn't quite as empty as she thought. There were tables lining the walls with dozens of brightly lit battery powered lanterns, and at the far end of the room there was what looked to be some sort of target. She looked to her right and saw Ronan standing behind a table aiming his gun at the target. He looked to be wearing some sort of earplugs and wondered why until he fired again. She was forced to cover her ears as the sound reverberated throughout the room, making the gunshot sound ten times louder than she was used to.

Ronan lowered his weapon and ejected the empty clip, placing it on the table in front of him. "What are you doing down here?" he asked without looking at her as he took out his earplugs and placed them on the table too.

"Um…I saw you come in here. I was just wondering what you were doing," Clementine replied.

Ronan nodded absently as he slapped in a new clip he picked up from the table.

Clementine approached him and glanced at the target he had been shooting at. She saw that all of his shots had hit the bullseye every time. "Wow. You're good."

"Thanks. I've had a lot of practice."

"Um, should you be doing this?" Clementine asked timidly. "I mean since we're low on ammo and everything."

Ronan looked at her and smiled in amusement. "Normally I wouldn't. But since we're going on a mission to get more tomorrow, I figured I might as well get in some target practice. It's good to stay sharp." He looked at her critically as she nodded in response to his words. "Do you know how to shoot? And I mean really. Any fool can pick up gun and pull a trigger."

"Yeah. Lee taught me, but…"

"But what?"

"I can shoot walkers no problem, but…it's those runners…" She frowned. She hated those runners, and now they had hunters to worry about too.

Ronan nodded in understanding. "You have trouble shooting fast-moving targets."

Clementine nodded.

"I can help you with that."

Her face lit up with excitement. "Yeah?"

"C'mere." Ronan beckoned her to follow him as he led her to a weird contraption she had never seen before. "Do you know what skeet shooting is?" he asked. At Clementine's shake of her head, he explained. "Basically, this thing here," he indicated the machine next to him, "launches one of these clay discs," he picked up one to demonstrate, "and you have to shoot it while it's moving through the air."

Clementine nodded in understanding. "Cool."

"Want to give a try?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok, let's get it set up."

Ronan got the machine set up while Clementine stood in position, holding her gun and trying to get the earplugs to stay in. They felt weird. When Ronan asked if she was ready, she nodded and held her gun up. When she saw the disc flying through the air, she followed its trajectory with her gun and fired. She frowned when her shot missed and the clay disc shattered against the wall.

"Dang it," Clementine said in frustration.

Ronan came over to her. "Ok, here's what you have to do. When aiming for a moving target, you have to lead the target a little bit."

"Lead the target?"

"Yeah. Aim in front of it. That way when your bullet reaches where you're aiming at, that's where the target will be. How far you lead the target will depend on how fast it's moving. You have to make that determination. I know it sounds hard now, but it'll get easier with a little practice. Now, you will also have to anticipate where it's going to go. Runners can change direction on a dime sometimes, and you have to be ready for it. But we'll worry about that later. Let's just conquer this for now." He patted her shoulder as he turned to go back to the skeet shooting machine. "Remember, lead the target," he said as he was walking away.

Clementine nodded and took a deep breath as she raised her gun again. When the disc came, she aimed in front of it like Ronan said, but she knew right away that she had aimed too far ahead of it. Her shot missed again. Biting her bottom lip in determination, she asked for another one. This time she aimed only a few inches in front of it. When she pulled the trigger, she was delighted to see the disc shatter in the air.

"I got it!" she cried happily.

"Good job, kid. Now let's see if you can do it again." He let loose another disc and Clementine shot that one too with no problems.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," she said confidently.

"You're a quick learner. I'm impressed," Ronan said as he approached her.

Clementine felt herself blush and lowered her head, hoping he didn't notice.

"C'mon. It's getting late. We should head to bed." Ronan put a hand on her back and steered her toward the door.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Lee's Confrontation

Lee was just finishing buttoning up his shirt when there was a knock on the door. Wondering who that could be, he got up to answer it. He was surprised to see Kyle standing on the other side looking rather chagrined.

"Kyle, what's going on?" Lee asked curiously.

"Lee, I need to see you down in the lobby," Kyle said seriously. "Now."

Looking back at Kenny and Cassie, Lee saw that they were just as puzzled as he was. Turning back to Kyle, he replied, "Yeah, sure."

They three of them followed Kyle down to the lobby where everyone else stood waiting for them, and they were surprised to see that Lilly was among them.

"What the fuck? What is she doing here?" Kenny asked angrily, pointing at Lilly.

"Lilly just brought something to our attention that we need to address right now," Kyle replied.

Lee put up a hand to prevent Kenny from arguing further. "What's this all about?" he asked calmly.

"I'm going to ask you one question," Kyle said, looking straight at Lee, "and I need a straight answer. Have you been bitten?"

Lee closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. He heard Kenny mutter an expletive next to him, and found himself thinking the same thing. Fuck. He knew he had to tell them the truth even though doing so will probably get them kicked out again. They deserved to know.

"Yeah," he replied, looking Kyle straight in the eye.

"Mother fucker," Deacon said. "I told you we shouldn't have let these people in here. We've been harboring a bite victim this whole time and didn't even know it. He could have turned and taken a bite out of any one of us. We gotta deal with this now."

"Deacon!" Kyle snapped. "Shut the fuck up and let me handle this!"

"You better handle this right quick before I do it for you."

Kyle sighed and rubbed a hand over his face as he turned to look at Lee. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You put me and my group in danger by walking through that door and not telling us right out that you were bitten."

"Alright, look," Lee said as he put up his hands in a placating manner. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm not going to turn."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. That's just some crazy ass bullshit right there," Deacon said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to agree with Deacon on this one," Reggie said.

"Look, I've been bitten before, and I never turned," Lee explained, feeling like he was getting nowhere with this group just like the last one.

"We think he's immune," Cassie added in.

"Is that even possible?" Michelle asked.

Cassie saw the doubt on all their faces but when she looked at John, she saw a ray of hope as she remembered their conversation at dinner. "John, what about you?" she asked. "You said yourself that you believe this whole thing is a virus, and that the reason the runners are so different is that their immune systems must have been able to partially fight off the virus so that they didn't fully turn. That's why they still retain some human characteristics. If it's possible to partially fight off the virus, isn't it possible for someone to be completely immune?"

John blinked as he thought about what she said. "Uh, I guess, but like I said before, it's just a theory of mine. I don't even know if I'm right."

"Look at the wound then. You can tell from that, can't you?" Cassie pleaded.

John looked at everyone who were all staring at him expectantly. He sighed. "Alright." He stepped up to Lee. "May I?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Lee stared at him for a moment before quietly rolling up his sleeve and offering his arm to the doctor. John took the arm gently in his hands and unwrapped the bandage. His eyes widened in surprise when he caught sight of the wound. It was clearly a bite mark. There was no doubt about that, but he had never seen one that looked like this so long after the fact.

"My god," he whispered. "When did this happen?"

"Early this morning," Lee replied.

"Incredible."

"Well?" Kyle demanded.

"It looks…healthy," John replied in awe.

"What?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"There's no sign of infection at all. It even looks like it's starting to heal."

Lee smiled. Finally, a professional opinion. Maybe this will help convince the others that he was telling the truth.

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked.

"Absolutely," John replied confidently.

"Well, I'll be damned," Kyle said as he visibly relaxed. "But why didn't you tell us about it in the first place?"

"Honestly, we didn't think it was any of your business, seeing as how nothing was going to come of it," Kenny responded defensively.

"Kenny," Cassie scolded.

Kenny looked at his girlfriend with a shrug while Lee shook his head. That was typical Kenny, but Lee could tell that the group didn't like Kenny's response by the look on their faces and decided to quickly offer up a better explanation.

"Look, we're sorry we didn't tell you, but the last group we were with when this happened didn't react well to the situation."

Kenny scoffed. "In other words, they kicked us out. And we didn't particularly want to go through that shit again. Especially when there was no reason to."

"Sounds reasonable enough for me," Michelle said, and Kyle nodded in agreement.

"I can't believe it. Someone is actually immune to this thing? Maybe there's hope after all," Reggie said.

"Let's not get our hopes up," Deacon said, still doubtful.

"What? You don't believe it?" Reggie asked.

"I didn't say that. I trust what the doc is telling us. But one guy being immune doesn't help the rest of us."

"Deacon's got a point," Michelle agreed.

"Whatever. The point is the problem is solved. We're not in any danger at the moment," Kyle remarked.

"Are you kidding me? You guys are actually believing this crap?" Lilly asked in disbelief.

"John knows what he's talking about, Lilly. I trust his judgement," Kyle said evenly.

"This is bullshit! If you guys aren't going to do something about this, I will!" Lilly took out her gun and aimed it straight at Lee's head.

"LEE!"

"NO!"

"STOP!"

Before anyone could react, however, Ronan seemingly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Lilly's outstretched hand, pushing the gun upwards just as it went off, sending the bullet flying above Lee's head. Lee ducked instinctively and backed away as Ronan kneed Lilly in the stomach. He then twisted her arm behind her back, spun her around, and shoved her against the desk hard.

"Drop it!" Ronan ordered. When she didn't react, he twisted her arm a little bit further, causing her to cry out in pain. "Now!" he said more forcefully. The gun dropped from fingers that were quickly going numb from lack of circulation. He then pulled out a pair of handcuffs, to everyone's surprise, and started to cuff her hands behind her back.

"Handcuffs?! Are you serious?" Lilly exclaimed as she felt the cold metal bracelets lock tightly around her wrists.

"Yeah. Seems fitting considering ropes don't seem to work with you," he replied as he spun her around and shoved her to the ground so she was sitting up against the desk.

"You can't be buying into this, Ronan!" Lilly argued.

"Oh, I think I am. You see, another thing you didn't know about me," he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold police badge. He held it in front of her face. "I was a cop before all this, and one thing you're trained to do as a cop is to look for details relevant to your case and draw conclusions."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Lilly asked.

"Look at him, Lilly," he said vehemently, pointing at Lee. "Does he look like he's going to turn to you? Because he doesn't look like he's going to turn to me, and believe me, I know what that looks like."

Lilly grudgingly looked at Lee but still refused to believe what he was telling her. "He could have been lying about when he was bitten."

"Regardless of whether he was bitten this morning or right before he walked through those doors, it doesn't matter. He's been here all day. He would have been showing signs by now. Besides that, I believe what John is telling us. He is a doctor, remember?"

Lilly seemed to deflate after that, and all the fight just went out of her. Seeing this, Ronan felt satisfied that he had finally gotten through to her. He picked up Lilly's gun and tossed it to Kyle. Then he dropped the handcuff keys in Kyle's hand.

"She's all yours," he said as he walked away.

"Thanks, Ronan," Kyle said. Rubbing a hand over his face—which he seemed to be doing a lot lately—he turned to Lilly, who looked so subdued, he almost felt sorry for her. Almost. "Lilly, I need you to get out," he said as calmly as he could.

Lilly didn't even look at him. "So that's it then? You're just going to kick me to the curb?"

"Don't give me that bullshit. After what you just did, there is nothing that you can say or do that will change this. I was trying to wait until morning to give you a fair chance, but you fucked that up. Now, I need you to leave."

Lilly slowly climbed to her feet and finally looked Kyle in the eye. "You going to make me go like this?" she asked, indicating her handcuffed hands.

"Of course not," he replied. He led her to the door before unlocking the cuffs.

Reggie stepped forward and handed Lilly a duffel bag. "Here, I took the liberty of packing some supplies for you."

After rubbing her sore wrists, Lilly took the bag without a word.

Kyle then handed her gun back. "Don't come back," he warned.

Lilly accepted the gun and turned to leave. She paused, however, with her hand on the door and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said as she turned back toward them, but she wasn't looking at Kyle. She was looking straight at Lee.

Lee met her gaze and was surprised to see actual sincerity in her eyes. He didn't quite know what to make of that. It was the first time she had shown actual remorse for what she had done.

"I believe you," Kyle said, even though he knew she wasn't talking to him. "But it's too late for that."

"I know," Lilly said, still looking at Lee. "But it needed to be said." After a moment, she turned and walked out the door without a backwards glance.

Kyle closed and barred the door behind her. He then leaned his forehead against the door and sighed heavily. He took a moment to collect himself before turning back toward the group. He looked at Lee particularly.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. She missed," Lee replied.

"Thanks to Ronan," Clementine piped up from Lee's side. She had run up to Lee and wrapped her arms around his waist while Ronan was dealing with Lilly. She hadn't let go the whole time, until now. She had been so afraid when she saw Lilly point that gun at Lee's head, and she was grateful that Ronan had gotten there in time.

"Yeah," Lee said. "I'll have to thank him later."

"Alright, everyone. I suggest we try to get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow," Kyle stated.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – Back at the Cabin

Early the Next Morning – At the Cabin

Carlos sat on the couch in the living room, deep in thought. He kept thinking about Lee and his group, wondering if he did the right thing. On the one hand, Lee had been bitten, and in his book, as well as anyone else's, that was a death sentence. He was just trying to protect his daughter and the group. Lee was a threat, and he wasn't going to go through the same thing again. The last time they tried to help a bite victim, they had lost Nick's mom. On the other hand, Lee had seemed pretty sincere. Hell, the whole group had. Kenny, Cassie, even Clementine, they were all adamant about Lee being immune. At first, he had thought they were just in denial, but now he realized it wasn't denial. It was a genuine belief that Lee was going to be ok, that he wasn't going to turn.

Maybe he had been rash in his actions. Luke certainly seemed to think so. After Lee and his group left, he and Luke had some choice words with one another, and then Luke had just walked off into the woods saying that he needed some time to himself to sort things out. They hadn't seen him since.

Everyone was worried because he had been gone an entire day and night. Worried that something might have happened to him, Nick and Pete had gone off to look for him while Carlos and Alvin stayed behind to look after the girls. They had been gone for a while now, and Carlos wondered if they would ever return.

"Hi Dad."

Carlos looked behind him to see his daughter, Sarah, standing at the foot of the stairs. "I thought I told you to stay in your room."

"I-I know, but," she began as she walked around the couch to stand in front of her father, "I got hungry."

"I'll get you something in a minute," he said as he stared straight ahead blankly.

"Dad? Are you ok?" Sarah asked as she sat down on the couch next to him.

Carlos sighed and squeezed her shoulder gently. "I'm fine, sweetie," he said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Where is everyone?" she asked curiously.

"Luke, Nick, and Pete went out. They'll be back soon. Why don't I fix you something to eat now?" he asked, not wanting to go into too much detail. He didn't want Sarah to worry.

He got up from the couch and headed toward the kitchen but stopped in his tracks when he heard a knock at the front door. He slowly turned around and stared at the door as another knock sounded.

"Dad?" Sarah asked. Her breathing quickened and her eyes widened in fear.

"Sarah, get upstairs," Carlos ordered.

Sarah did as she was told. After Carlos was sure she was safely tucked away in her room, he started to approach the door slowly and quietly, intending on locking it. He didn't know who was on the other side of that door, but he had a pretty good idea. And if he was right, that person was coming in no matter what, but a locked door would give more time to get him and his people out if need be.

As he was reaching for the top lock, however, the door suddenly opened to reveal an older man with short, brown hair and a mustache and wearing a brown jacket with a line of fur around the hood. Carlos froze for a split second as he came face to face with the man he recognized as William Carver. Carver, however, didn't hesitate as he stepped inside and punched Carlos in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Hello, Carlos," Carver said in a gravelly voice. "This must be my lucky day."

He grabbed Carlos by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him to his feet and into the living room. Then he pushed him to his knees and pulled out his gun. He didn't aim it at Carlos, though. He just held it as a warning as he looked around the room.

"Nice place you got here. So, where is everyone?" Carver asked casually.

Carlos looked up at him defiantly before spitting in his face. Carver slowly wiped his face off with one hand before punching Carlos in the stomach with the other. Carlos grunted as he curled around his stomach in pain, but he managed to stay on his knees.

"Now, I'll ask you again. Where is everyone? More specifically, where is Rebecca?"

Carlos coughed a couple times. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he replied, "I don't know. I went off on my own." He knew it was a feeble lie at best, but there was no way he was going to tell Carver anything substantial.

"You went off on your own," Carver repeated, deadpan. "Now why is it I don't believe you?"

Carver grabbed the doctor's two forefingers on his right hand and jerked them backward hard. Both men could hear the snap as the bones were broken, and Carlos screamed in agony.

"Where are they?" Carver asked again.

But Carlos wasn't listening. He was too focused on the pain he felt and wondering whether or not he was going to get out of this alive.

* * *

Somewhere in the Woods

Luke sat on the cold floor in this small stone building, wondering how he had gotten himself into this. No scratch that. He knew how he got himself into this. He had been stupid and walked off into the woods by himself. He had just been so pissed off at Carlos for the way he had just discarded Lee and his group that he just couldn't stay there anymore. He had needed some time alone, and at that point he hadn't cared about the potential danger in the woods. He supposed he should have cared. He had been so pissed that he didn't pay as much attention to his surroundings as he should have. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by a group of walkers. He had killed a fair few before he realized that there were too many for him to take on by himself and had been forced to run. He saw this small building and made a beeline right for it.

He sighed as he looked at one of the windows and realized with trepidation that not only had he been stuck here all day but all night too as he saw the first signs of the coming dawn through the window. He was getting nowhere sitting here feeling sorry for himself. It was clear that no one was going to find him. So, it was up to him to get himself out.

With renewed vigor, he stood up and took a look around. Judging from the still against the wall and full jars of, he guessed, whiskey, this place had been used to make homemade alcohol. Moving crates and shelves, he tried to see if maybe there might be another way out, but there wasn't. He sighed. It was a longshot anyway. He picked up one of the jars and stared at it. If he had been a heavy drinker, he might have had some just to take the edge off, but he wasn't. Nick would love this though. He was more into the hard liquor, while Luke himself preferred an occasional beer with friends. He put the jar back on the shelf.

He turned toward the wooden doors. When he first got here, the walkers outside had been pounding on those doors trying to get in. They had stopped a while ago. Maybe they had wandered away. Deciding there was only one way to find out, he pushed the crate he had used to block the door out of the way, opened the door a crack, and peered out. There were still quite a few of them meandering about, but they weren't concentrating on him anymore. This might be his only chance to make a break for it.

He took out his machete, waited for an opening, and then took off at a run towards the trees. One walker turned and reached for him as he ran by but missed. He killed a couple others along the way. Just when he thought he was in the clear, he felt a hand grab his ankle, causing him to trip and fall into the dirt and sending the machete skittering across the ground out of reach. He turned onto his back and saw a walker with no legs had ahold of his leg. It was trying to get close enough to take a bite. He kicked it in the face a few times to try to get it to let go. He knew he was a sitting duck like this as he saw more walkers closing in on him.

Just as he managed to break free and scoot back a bit, another walker practically fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground and trying to take of bite out of his neck. He pushed its head back, trying to keep the snapping jaws away from his face. He almost gagged at the stench of decay that filled his nostrils. He winched in disgust as he both felt and heard the rotting flesh being ripped from the bone where his hand was putting pressure on its head. He knew he wasn't going to be able to keep this up for much longer, not because his strength was failing but because the decaying flesh was about to rip right off the skull.

He was saved when an arrow pierced the top of its skull and the thing went limp right on top of him. He quickly pushed the body off of him and sat up. He saw another walker coming towards him, but then a gunshot rang out and a bullet penetrated the middle of its forehead. He looked behind him and saw Nick with his rifle and Pete with his crossbow. He had never been so relieved to see two people in his entire life.

"Luke! Get out of there!" Nick cried.

"Get your ass up and moving, boy!" Pete yelled.

Luke scrambled to his feet and ran toward the two men, grabbing his machete along the way. "Let's go!" he yelled as he ran past them.

The three men ran as long and as fast as they could. When they thought they were far enough away, they stopped to catch their breath.

Nick turned to Luke and smiled. "God damn! It's great to see you!" he said enthusiastically, giving Luke a grateful hug.

"Yeah, you too," Luke said as he returned the hug.

"You were gone so long. We didn't know what had happened to you," Nick said.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I got overwhelmed back there. Ended up holed up in a little building in the woods," Luke explained.

"And that's where you've been this whole time?" Nick asked.

"Pretty much."

"Well, I'm glad to see you're ok," Pete said.

"Thanks. Both of you. For saving my ass back there," Luke replied gratefully.

"Yeah, well, I owed you for all those times you saved my ass," Nick said, patting Luke on the back.

Luke laughed and shook his head. "C'mon. Let's get back to the cabin."

It was a while before they made it back to the cabin. Luke had never been so relieved to be back here. Right now, he just wanted to relax on the couch for a while. His relief was short-lived however as they neared the cabin they heard a loud, gut-wrenching scream emanating from inside. All three of them stopped in their tracks.

"Jesus, that sounded like Carlos," Pete said, his brow pinched in concern.

"What do we do?" Nick asked.

Luke stared at the cabin in trepidation, trying to think what to do. He didn't know what had caused Carlos to scream like that, but it sounded like he was in pain. So, either a walker had managed to get inside, which was unlikely, or Carver had finally found them. He knew if that was the case, they couldn't just go rushing in there without a plan. Even though Carlos was in danger, rushing in there without assessing the situation would put them all at risk. Carver was a methodical man. He usually didn't leave his compound without two or three people with him. They needed to know how many were in there and what the situation was before acting.

He motioned to Nick and Pete to follow him as he led them around the side of the house. He peeked in the window and saw Carver standing over Carlos who was kneeling on the ground, bent over in pain. He couldn't really hear what was being said, but it looked like Carver was torturing Carlos for information. Tearing his eyes away from the horrible scene, he looked around the room. He was surprised to see that there was no else in the room. Carver was alone? That was an interesting tidbit of information.

He moved away from the window and looked at Pete and Nick, who were both looking at him expectantly. "It's Carver," he said.

"Shit," Pete said softly. "Who else?"

"No one. It looks like he's alone," Luke replied.

"No way," Nick said with a shake of his head. "He wouldn't come after us alone."

"Unless he didn't expect to find us," Luke pointed out. "Maybe he was scouting the area and got lucky. This could be our chance."

"Our chance to do what?" Nick asked.

"To stop him," Luke said absently, as an idea started to form in his mind. "Ok, this is what we're going to do. Pete, I want you to go in through the front door. Try to distract him as long as possible. I'm going to go in through the kitchen and surprise him." At Pete's nod of understanding, he turned to Nick. "Nick, I want you to go to the bedroom window. Alvin and Rebecca are probably still hiding there. Let them know what we're planning."

"I can help you," Nick said.

"I need you to let them know we're here. Otherwise, they might give themselves up." Luke winced as another scream filled the air, and he didn't want to think what Carver was doing to Carlos in there. "Because more than likely they're thinking about it."

Nick nodded reluctantly and the three of them split up to carry out Luke's plan.

Pete walked around to the front of the house. He stopped in front of the porch steps and took a deep breath. He hoped this worked. He started walking up the stairs, trying not to tiptoe even though his instincts were telling him to. He wanted to get Carver's attention. As he approached the front door, he noticed the door was wide open. He paused briefly and raised his crossbow as he slowly entered the house. He knew that if he didn't know what was going on in the house and he had returned to find the door wide open like that he would be suspicious. So, walking in with his crossbow raised would be a natural reaction. He had to make it seem like he didn't know what he was walking into but was still being cautious.

As he walked through the door, he saw Carver pull Carlos up in front of him like a shield and held a knife to his throat. Carlos looked in pretty bad shape. He had a black eye, a split lip, and it looked like a couple fingers were broken. And there was no telling what other injuries he might have that Pete couldn't see.

"Carver, let him go," Pete ordered with his crossbow raised.

"Well, well. Look who finally showed up. Nice to see you again, Pete," Carver said in a sickly pleasant sort of way.

"I said let him go!" Pete said more forcefully.

"No, no, no," Carver said, shaking his head. "You put your weapon down or I'll kill him."

"Not going to happen," Pete said. He didn't want to give in too easily and raise Carver's suspicions.

"You know, I really don't want to kill him because Carlos, here, he's pretty valuable. But I will if you force me to."

Pete took a deep breath and slowly lowered the weapon, placing it on the floor and taking a step back. He really hoped this plan worked.

"There. Was that so hard?" Carver said casually. "Now, where are the others? Carlos, here, hasn't been very forthcoming."

Pete thought about what to say. Carver would most likely spot a lie. He was good at that. So, Pete figured a half-truth might be the way to go. "Luke walked off into the woods. We've been looking for him for hours."

Carver shook his head. "Finally cut and run, huh? I told you not to follow him. Now, look where's he led you." He paused. "Where's Rebecca?"

"I don't know," Pete answered, trying to sound as truthful as possible and all the while hoping that Luke showed up soon.

Luke opened the door quietly and slipped into the kitchen. He then tiptoed across the kitchen and put his ear to the living room door. He could hear Carver and Pete talking. He could tell Carver was close to the kitchen door, real close. He just hoped he was close enough as he took a few steps back. With a deep breath, he kicked the door open. The door hit Carver's shoulder, knocking him off balance and causing him to let go of Carlos and the knife. Carlos dropped to his knees and Luke charged into the room and tackled Carver to the ground.

Both men hit the ground hard, but Carver recovered first as he elbowed Luke in the face. He then pulled himself to his knees and punched Luke in the side of the head, dazing him. He got to his feet, pulled out his gun, and aimed it at Luke's head just as Pete came around the corner with his crossbow aimed.

"Put down the gun," Pete ordered.

Carver glanced at Pete. "We really going to go through this again? You think you can kill me before I pull this trigger?" He looked down at Luke. "You're pathetic. Couldn't even take me down when you had the element of surprise. There's three of you, and I'm the one left standing with the upper hand. You're just wandering, like sheep without a shepherd. You need guidance, and I can give it to you."

"You're delusional if you think we'll follow you anywhere," Luke said.

Carlos was in a world of pain. His fingers throbbed and his head ached, but above it all, he knew he had to do something. Carver wasn't paying any attention to him. So, while he was talking, Carlos inched his way over on his knees so he could grab the dropped knife. Then, with a glance up at Carver to make sure hadn't noticed his movements, he stabbed it into Carver's upper thigh. Carver grunted in pain and turned his attention to the knife that was sticking out of his leg. Then, with anger filled eyes, he pointed his gun at Luke once again, ready to pull the trigger. Pete, who had been watching this surreptitiously, took advantage of the situation, and before Carver could pull the trigger, he fired his crossbow. The arrow went straight through Carver's forearm, causing him to drop the gun. Luke then got to his feet and leveled him with a hard right, knocking him out cold.

Luke stood over Carver's unconscious form, breathing heavily. He couldn't believe they had managed to subdue the man who seemed so untouchable before. It was so surreal, that for a moment none said anything. The moment was shattered, however, when they heard running footsteps enter the cabin. Thinking that it might be one of Carver's people, Pete whirled around with his crossbow but lowered it quickly when he saw it was only Nick.

"Whoa, hey. It's just me," Nick said when he saw the crossbow aimed at his face. He looked past Pete and saw Carver lying on the ground. "Damn, you guys got him!"

Luke looked at Carlos as Pete was helping him to his feet. "You alright?" he asked.

Carlos winced as his broken fingers were jostled, but he nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, I think so. Thanks." He gave Luke a significant look which Luke returned, both coming to an understanding about what had happened earlier.

The bedroom door opened at that moment and Alvin and Rebecca stepped out. Alvin looked down at Carver and winced at the arrow that was stuck halfway through his arm. "Damn, that must have hurt," he said.

"He deserves more," Rebecca said with a huff.

"So, what now?" Nick inquired.

"It won't take long for Carver's people to come looking for him," Pete stated.

"He's right. We need to get out of here as soon as possible," Luke said.

"But what do we do about him?" Nick asked, gesturing at Carver.

"I say we kill him," Rebecca said, crossing her arms.

"What?!" Luke exclaimed. "We can't just kill him!"

"Luke, think about it," Nick said. "He's going to keep chasing after us. He's never going to stop, and I, for one, don't want to run forever."

"Look, there's not one part of that man that I don't hate, but Jesus Christ! Y'all are talking about murder!"

"I call it self-defense," Nick said, crossing his arms.

Luke looked at him angrily. "No, killing a defenseless man, who is lying on the ground unconscious and helpless is murder, and I will not be a part of it!"

"Luke's right," Pete said. "We can't just kill the man. That would make us no better than he is."

"I agree," Alvin said softly.

"Alvin!" Rebecca exclaimed in disbelief.

Alvin sighed. "Look, Bec, I'm sorry. I love you, but I will not murder anyone. And yes, I know I killed George when we escaped, but that was different. He was going to kill me and you too. That really was self-defense. But this?" He looked down at Carver's prone form and shook his head. "This just ain't right."

Luke nodded, glad to see he wasn't the only one who didn't feel comfortable about killing a man. "Alright. I say we just tie him up and leave him here. By the time his people find him, we'll be long gone."

"And what's to stop him from finding us again?" Nick asked.

"We'll deal with it if and when it happens," Luke replied.

Rebecca sighed. "Fine. Let's just get out of here."

"Alright. Pack up everything that we can carry. We have to leave right away," Luke ordered. He turned to Carlos. "You good to go?"

Carlos nodded. "Yeah, I just need to splint my fingers. Then I'll be ready," he said as he headed for the stairs.

"So, any idea of where we're going?" Nick asked as the rest of the group went their separate ways to start parking up their supplies.

"Yeah, I have a pretty good idea," Luke replied.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, so I just wanted to thank all those who have left their reviews and all of my readers. I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Stay tuned. Things are about to get interesting.**

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Chapter 20 – Checking Out the Gun Store

Meanwhile – Back at the Hotel

The group gathered in the lobby getting ready for their mission to the gun store and then the pharmacy. It was decided that they would need everyone for this mission, but that at least one person should stay behind to look after the hotel, make sure no one tried to take it over while they were gone. John, despite his protestations, was the one elected to stay. Even though, as a doctor, he would know what kind of meds to take and what they needed, he was just too valuable to the group to risk going on this mission. He was their only doctor, and if any of them needed any medical attention after this, they needed him ready and waiting when they got back.

Once everyone was ready, they ventured outside. Surprisingly, the streets were pretty empty, and it was quiet. Almost too quiet. It was actually kind of eerie as they walked past stores and shops. Some had clearly been broken into and looted. Others were boarded up, as if someone had tried to fortify them against the undead. But there was no sign of movement anywhere, neither human nor walker.

"Uh, is it just me, or are the streets kind of empty?" Cassie asked as they walked.

Kenny huffed. "That's what we thought before, remember? And then we got mobbed."

"Yeah," Cassie said, unsure. "But this just seems…I don't know. I just got a bad feeling about this."

"Try not to think about it," Lee advised, even though he was having the same feeling.

"We're almost there," Kyle announced.

As they neared the gun store, they could see the pharmacy just down the street. They could also see that the street was crowded with walkers all around the pharmacy. It was as if they had all flocked there and were now just milling about in front of it.

"Shit," Lee muttered as they all quickly hid around the side of the gun shop so they wouldn't risk being seen by the walkers.

"Fuck," Kenny said as he peered around the corner. "Well, now we know why the streets were so empty." He looked back at Kyle. "I thought you said this place was crawling with hunters, not every single walker in the whole damn city."

"He's right. I mean, Jesus, Kyle. That's way more than there was the last time we tried," Deacon said.

"I know," Kyle sighed.

"Why the hell are they all gathering here?" Reggie asked, looking slightly worried.

"I don't know," Lee replied.

"Who the fuck cares?" Kenny said, looking determined. "We just gotta figure out a way around them."

"I don't know about this, guys," Michelle said uncertainly. "We lost four people last time, and there's more of them this time."

"If we can get into that gun store, we might have better odds depending on what's left in there. We can come up with a plan then," Lee said. He looked down at Clementine who was crouched beside him. "You ready, Clem?" She nodded. "Alright, the rest of you wait by the back door."

Clementine followed Lee around to the front while the rest of them went around to the back door. As he walked out onto the sidewalk in front of the store, he glanced nervously at the horde of walkers down the street. They were a bit too close for comfort. One wrong move or loud noise, and they would be coming straight for them. Which was why he wanted to get inside as quickly as possible. He walked up to the steel shutter and pulled upwards. As expected, it only opened partway, but it was enough for Clementine to crawl through.

"Alright, go ahead. But be careful," Lee cautioned.

Clementine nodded and crawled through the small opening. She cautiously looked around as she slowly got to her feet. She was glad to see that the place was pretty well stocked. All different kinds of guns and ammo filled most of the shelves. She was dismayed, however, when she saw the large amount of blood smeared on the floor. It was dry and it looked like it had been there a while, but obviously, something had happened here. And it wasn't good. Not to mention the stale air was filled with the pungent odor of decay she associated with walkers.

Conscious of the fact that there might be at least one walker inside, she started walking through the store toward where she saw the back door. When she caught sight of the door, she now knew why they couldn't open it from the other side. The door had a metal bar attached to it with brackets, and it looked like it had been slid across the opening into another bracket on the wall, effectively sealing it shut. There was no way anyone could have broken that door down.

As she was walking toward the door, she heard a disgusting, wet chewing sound. With a grimace, she slowly turned her head toward the sound and saw a walker crouched on the ground chewing on bloody entrails. She put a hand over her mouth as she fought the urge to vomit. The walker must have heard her because at that moment, it turned to look at her. Blood covered the whole lower half of its face and dripped from its mouth as it growled and stood up, lurching towards her. Taking a deep breath, she took out her Swiss army knife and waited for it to get closer. Then she kicked it in the knee, causing it to crumple to the ground, and then stabbed it in the back of the head.

"Clem, you alright?" Lee asked quietly through open shutter.

"I'm fine," she replied after taking a moment to compose herself. "I'm opening the door now." Careful not to look at the bloody mess the walker had been feasting on, she walked over to the door. She grabbed the handle attached to the bar on the door and pulled back with all her might. At first, it didn't seem to move but slowly it slid backwards, and she was able to open the door.

Kenny smiled at her from the other side. "Good job, darlin'," he said as he entered the store.

"Yeah, Clem," Cassie said with a smile as she entered next. "You are officially my hero." She playfully rubbed the top of Clementine's head, knocking her hat askew.

"Hey!" Clementine laughed as she straightened her hat and turned to face Ronan who was next to enter.

Ronan smiled down at her. "Way to go, kid. I'm impressed," he said as he walked past her.

"Thanks, Ronan," she said with a dopey smile on her face as she watched him walk away. She was so busy watching him, that she didn't even hear the praises the others gave her as they entered. That is, until she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see Lee looking down at her.

"You ok, Clem?" Lee asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm ok. There was only one walker in here. I took care of him," she replied, looking back at the dead walker.

Lee smiled. "Well done, Clem. You did good."

"Thanks, Lee," Clementine said, returning the smile.

The group spread out and started gathering what they needed and piling them on or around the check-out counter. After Lee loaded his empty gun and then grabbed a few extra magazines, he wandered into the back room behind the check-out counter. The room looked like it had been an office that had been turned into a sleeping area. The desk was shoved aside to make room for an old mattress with rumpled blankets and a couple of pillows hanging off of it. He started searching the room, checking shelves and drawers. He didn't find anything of interest until he came upon a small box under the desk. He pulled it out and was surprised to find it was half full of firecrackers. _This could prove useful,_ he thought as he brought the box out to the main room.

Cassie was arranging all different kinds of guns across the counter when Lee walked out, and Kenny was searching under the counter.

"Hey, Lee. What's your preference? We've got all kinds. Rifles. Shotguns. Handguns. Revolvers. Take your pick," Cassie said.

"Uh, I'll get back to you on that. Check out what I found," Lee said as he made room on the counter to put the box.

"Ooh, firecrackers. These are cool," Cassie said as she reached in the box and grabbed one.

"Yeah, real cool," Kenny said as he stood up from his crouched position, "but what good are they?"

"Are you kidding? These are good noise-makers," Cassie said, tossing the firecracker back in the box.

"Exactly what I was thinking. These will make a good distraction," Lee said.

"Ah, I get it. Well, look what I found," Kenny said as he pulled out a couple of bottles of whiskey from under the counter and placed them on top.

Lee chuckled slightly. "Why is it we always seem to find a bottle of booze wherever we go?" he said as picked up one of the bottles and looked at it.

"I don't know, but I ain't complaining," Kenny said. He picked up the other bottle, opened it, and proceeded to take a drink.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Cassie asked, grabbing the bottle from him mid-drink.

Kenny quickly swallowed what was left in his mouth, coughing a little and wiping away the little bit that dribbled onto his chin when she grabbed the bottle. "What? What does it look like I'm doing?"

"This is hardly the time to be getting drunk," she said, irritated.

"Who's getting drunk? I'm just taking a drink, that's all," Kenny said.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. There's more practical uses for this stuff, you know," she said as she made her away around the counter to join Kenny on the other side and started rummaging around underneath.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Kenny inquired.

She gave them a sly smile. "Watch and learn, boys." She pulled out a couple of empty whiskey bottles and some rags that looked like they had been used to clean guns and put them on the counter. She poured some of the alcohol onto the rags. Then she took the mostly full whiskey bottles and poured half the contents into the empty bottles. Then she proceeded to stuff the rags into the top of the bottles so that half of it was hanging out the top. When she was finished, there were four Molotov cocktails sitting on the counter. "And there you have it," she said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Lee and Kenny stared at the finished product in slack-jawed amazement. Then Kenny looked at Cassie with a wide grin. "Cass, I love you. You are…" He tried to think of the right word to express how he felt.

"Brilliant?" Cassie said.

Kenny laughed and went with it. "Yes. Brilliant," he said as he kissed her.

Lee picked up one of the Molotov cocktails and stared at it. "Man, how did I not think of this?" he wondered.

"Well, you can't think of everything," Cassie said.

"Hey," Lee said as he looked from the Molotov to the box of firecrackers. He picked up one out of the box. "Maybe we can use these together."

"How so?" Kenny asked.

"Well, you throw the firecracker first, and then when a big enough crowd is gathered around that, you throw the Molotov. It's a good way to take out the maximum number of walkers at once," Lee explained.

"Then again, maybe you can think of everything," Cassie said with a smile, shaking her head.

Ronan, meanwhile, was checking out a shelf, trying to see which gun he would be best suited for. Kyle stepped up next to him and picked up a box of ammo. "So, you were a cop?" he said casually.

"A detective, yeah," Ronan replied.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kyle asked as he started loading his gun.

Ronan sighed. "Because it doesn't matter anymore."

"Then why do you still have your badge?"

Ronan looked at him briefly before returning his gaze to the shelf. "Because I worked hard for that. It's probably one of the only things in my life that I earned legitimately. Guess I wasn't ready to give it up yet."

"Well, isn't that touching?" Deacon said as he stepped up next to Ronan and picked up a shotgun from the rack. "But let me ask you something. You told us before that you had gotten into some trouble and had even been arrested a few times. How is it that you were able to become a detective with a criminal record like that?"

Ignoring the annoyance he felt at Deacon having butted into their conversation, Ronan answered calmly, "I have Rex to thank for that. He buried my file and got me into the academy. He even made sure I had a detective's shield waiting for me when I got out so I didn't have to walk the streets as a beat cop."

Deacon looked somewhat abashed as he lowered his eyes. "Yeah," he said quietly. "That sounds like Rex. He was a good guy." Ronan and Kyle both looked at him like he had grown a second head or something. "What?"

"Nothing," Kyle said, shaking his head and averting his gaze. "It's just…you actually said something nice."

"Hey, I know when to be tactful," Deacon said, somewhat defensively.

"Really," Kyle said in disbelief. "Could have fooled me."

"Yeah, it's never happened before," Ronan joined in.

"Oh, shut up," he said, dismissively waving away their comments. He turned away from them and held the shotgun up with one hand toward the back wall. "What do you guys think?"

Ronan looked at his stance and shook his head. "I think you're holding it the wrong way."

"Oh, c'mon," Deacon said as he turned back toward him. "I've seen people hold it this way in the movies. I think it looks cool."

Ronan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it looks cool, but it's lousy way to hold a 12-gauge shotgun. You hold it like that, and the kickback will knock it right out of your hand. Hold it tight against your shoulder, unless you want the thing to go flying back into your face."

Deacon looked indignant, but did what he was told.

"Ok, do we actually have a plan?" Reggie asked as she and Michelle joined Lee, Cassie, and Kenny at the counter and placed a couple of handguns with the rest of the guns that had been collected. "Because I'm not going out there without a definite plan."

"Reggie's right. I don't relish the idea of having to fight through a whole crowd of walkers," Michelle said.

"You won't have to," Kyle said as he came over and made space on the counter where he placed a black duffel bag he had been carrying with him from the hotel. "Check out these babies." He unzipped the bag to reveal what appeared to be homemade pipe bombs.

"What? No way," Cassie said, as she stared down at the gleaming metal explosives.

"Are these what I think they are?" Deacon asked, picking one up and turning it around in his hands.

"Yep. Made them myself," Kyle replied with a bit pride in his voice.

"Where the hell did you learn to make pipe bombs?" Kenny asked.

"Well, you see, I had this neighbor who was obsessed with guns and explosives. Said he had to be ready for World War III," Kyle said with a laugh, shaking his head.

Cassie raised her eyebrows. "Ok. He sounds like a paranoid nutjob."

"Paranoid, yes, but I wouldn't exactly call him a nutjob. He was harmless, even though he did have an arsenal in his basement. Anyway, we were hanging out one day and he said he wanted to show me something cool. How could I resist?"

"And why didn't we have these when we tried this before?" Reggie asked.

"Because I didn't have the materials to make them, and honestly, I didn't think about it until about a month ago," Kyle said with a shrug. "That's when I started actively searching for the materials I needed. Figured we might need them this time."

Lee picked up one of the pipe bombs and inspected it closely, impressed with Kyle's handiwork. He noticed a red button on the side of it and wondered what it was for. "What's with the red button?" he asked.

"Oh, that's a little something I added myself. You see, you push the button, and it emits a loud beeping noise, like a beacon. It should attract every walker in the vicinity before it explodes." Kyle smiled, proud of himself for his ingenuity.

Deacon smirked. "Nice. These could come in handy."

"That's great, but we still don't have an actual plan. What, do we just run out there and start throwing these around?" Reggie said, indicating the pipe bombs with a wave of her hand.

"No, no, no," Ronan stepped in, shaking his head. "You do that, you'll just blow yourselves up. Ok, here's the plan. I'm going to take the Molotov cocktails and a few of the pipe bombs, and I'm going up to the roof." He indicated a stairway nearby that presumably led up to the roof. "I'm going to use those to clear out as many of those sons of bitches as I can. When I've done that, you guys head over to the pharmacy and I'll cover you from there with this." He held up a high-powered sniper rifle. "Those hunters are sneaky bastards. Maybe I can get them before they get you. If I can take enough of them out, you should be able to hold your own with the arsenal we have here. Sound like a plan?" He looked directly at Reggie with that last question since she seemed to be the most reluctant about the situation. She nodded in return.

"Hell yeah, it sounds like a plan. Let's do this," Kenny said.

"Won't that make a lot of noise though?" Cassie asked.

"You got any better suggestions on getting by that crowd out there?" Ronan asked.

Cassie thought about it for a second and sighed. "No."

"Alright," Ronan said, slinging the rifle across his back and picking up an empty box from a nearby shelf. "You guys go outside and wait. You should be able to see when it's clear enough to head to the pharmacy," he continued as he started placing the Molotov cocktails and a few of the pipe bombs in the box. "I'm heading to the roof." He picked up the box and headed toward the stairs.

Lee picked up the box of firecrackers and handed it to Ronan as he passed. "Here. Use these along with the Molotov's."

Ronan smirked as he looked down at the firecrackers. "I getcha." He was about to head up the stairs when Clementine appeared at his side.

"Can I come with you?" she asked.

Ronan looked down at her almost surprised. She had been so quiet up until now, he had forgotten she was there. Then he shrugged. "Sure, kid. I don't care." He looked to Lee, however, as if to ask if it was all right.

"Can I, Lee?" Clementine asked, looking at him hopefully.

Lee was dumbstruck. Truthfully, he hadn't wanted Clementine to come with them to the pharmacy. The only reason they had taken her this far was because she was the only one who could get them into the gun store. Her staying here with Ronan seemed like the best solution. But he couldn't help but feel a little hurt that she seemed to want to be with Ronan more than him. He could remember a time when she wanted to be with him all the time wherever he went. She was always asking him that question. Can I come with you? Now she was asking Ronan that question. He was almost tempted to say no, but one look at that hopeful face, and he just couldn't. "Sure, Clem. You can go," he said finally.

She smiled brightly. "Thanks Lee!" she cried happily, giving him a brief hug before running to join Ronan at the stairs.

"C'mon, kid. You can help me spot some hunters," Ronan said as they both climbed the stairs.

Lee sighed as he leaned back against the counter, watching them disappear up the stairs. He was aware of the others behind him packing up all the guns and ammo they were going to need and thought that he should probably help, but he didn't really feel like it at the moment.

"You ok, pal?" Kenny asked gently.

Lee looked back at Kenny before turning around completely. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Kenny looked at him critically. "Feeling a little jealous?"

Lee sighed. "Maybe a little," he answered truthfully.

"Don't be," Cassie said, slapping a fresh clip into her pistol. "Her relationship with you is completely different."

"What do you mean?" Lee inquired.

Cassie stopped what she was doing and looked at the both of them. When she realized they had no idea what she was talking about, she almost laughed. "Oh, come on. You're telling me you haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?" they both said unison.

"Clementine has a crush on him," Cassie said with a smile.

"What?" Lee said in disbelief.

"Ain't she a little young for that?" Kenny asked.

"You're never too young for your first crush. I had mine when I was ten," Cassie said.

"Are you guys talking about Clementine's crush on Ronan?" Reggie asked as she joined them.

Lee looked at her. "You know about this?"

"Of course. It's obvious. The way she looks at him. The way she acts around him. It's really kind of cute. Not that I blame her. He is smoking hot." Reggie smiled dreamily.

"Oh, hell yeah," Michelle joined in. "Talk about a hunk. And I absolutely love a guy with tattoos." She noticed that everyone was staring at her. She shrugged. "What? Just because I'm with Deacon, doesn't mean I can't enjoy a little look see." She glanced over at Deacon who was helping Kyle load ammo and some extra handguns into a duffel bag. "Just, uh, don't tell him I said that."

"Your secret's safe with us," Reggie assured.

Deacon and Kyle came over at that point. Deacon looked around at them all. "Are we ready to go, or are you all too busy talking?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're ready. Let's go," Lee said, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Clementine has a crush on Ronan. It did kind of make him feel a little bit better. At least he knew he wasn't being replaced, and he supposed it was a foolish thought anyway. He should have known that no one could possibly replace him in Clementine's eyes. He just hoped she didn't get hurt having a crush on a much older guy.

Everyone headed back out through the back door and crept around the side of the building towards the front, and there they stayed so they didn't attract any attention. Lee and Kyle both peeked around the side so they could see when it was clear enough to make a break for it. And they waited for the inevitable light show.

Clementine and Ronan reached the rooftop and walked toward the edge overlooking the street below that led to the pharmacy. Clementine couldn't believe how many walkers were crowding the street between them and their destination. She had never seen so many in one spot before. She wasn't even sure what they had would be enough to clear them out. She looked up at Ronan as he put the box down and stared out at the expanse of walkers. He didn't seem worried, and she tried not to be either.

"Alright. Let's take care of the crowd," he said as he reached into the box and pulled out one of the firecrackers.

"You think this will work?" Clementine asked uncertainly.

Ronan merely smiled as he pulled out a silver zippo lighter. He flipped it open and used it to light the fuse. He then tossed it into the crowd of walkers below. It bounced lightly off the shoulder of one walker and fell to the ground, disappearing from view. Seconds later, loud popping cut through the air, making Clementine's ears hurt. Like moths to a flame, scores of walkers crowded around the noise-maker, swinging and grabbing at nothing, too mindless to realize that there was nothing there to grab onto except each other. Hunters would also leap onto the ground, also attracted to the noise.

Once a significant crowd had gathered, Ronan picked up one of the Molotov cocktails and lit the rag. He then lobbed it onto the gathered walkers. Flaming liquid splashed across the assembled undead creatures, setting them ablaze. Many writhed and let out a noise that could almost be construed as cries of pain. Almost. Minutes later, dozens of walkers were on the ground, unmoving, nothing more than burnt out husks. Clementine stared down in surprise at how many just one Molotov had taken down, and her earlier doubts started to disappear.

"Does that answer your question?" Ronan asked with a smile. Clementine nodded mutely. "Want to throw the next one?" He held out another firecracker, offering it to her.

Clementine grinned. "Yeah," she said enthusiastically, accepting the firecracker and the lighter. She lit the fuse and threw it as hard as she could down to the street. Once again, the loud noise gathered the walkers, runners, and even a few hunters in one spot.

Ronan picked up the second Molotov and looked down at Clementine. "Uh, I better throw the Molotov's. No offense, but we only have one shot at this. It has to be precise."

Clementine nodded in understanding. She was just happy to be helping out at all, and she didn't want to mess anything up by not throwing the Molotov in the right spot. She watched as Ronan threw the second Molotov, garnering the same results as the first time. Repeating the process two more times with the last two Molotov cocktails, they pretty much cleared the street, leaving nothing but burnt bodies behind. There was one last group, however, hanging around the pharmacy.

Ronan grabbed one of the pipe bombs. He lit the fuse and pushed the red button on the side. It immediately started emitting a slow, loud beeping sound. He threw it with all his strength, wanting to make sure it got as close to the pharmacy as possible. Both he and Clementine watched as the last group of walkers flocked toward the beeping noise that was slowly increasing in speed. Then a hunter jumped down from the top of a nearby building and landed right where the pipe bomb was, knocking over several walkers in the process. When the explosion came, it sent bodies flying in all directions, but that hunter was sent straight up high into the air. When it came back down, it landed with a disgusting splat.

Clementine stared at the carnage with wide eyes. "Whoa," she whispered. It was the only thing she could think to say.

"Well, I'll say one thing. These things are definitely efficient," Ronan said as he held up the last pipe bomb.

"Yeah, but won't all this noise attract more of them?" Clementine asked.

"Probably. That's what all the weaponry is for. Besides, they only need long enough to get inside," Ronan replied. He looked down at the street and decided that it was clear enough. He put the pipe bomb back in the box and took out his sniper rifle. He grabbed a pair of binoculars he found inside the gun shop and handed them to the Clementine. "Here. You see any hunters, you let me know."

Clementine accepted them with a nod of understanding.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Getting into the Pharmacy

After the sound of the explosion died down, Lee peered around the side of the store, seeing nothing but burnt bodies littering the ground. That had truly been a sight to behold. The systematic extermination of a large group of walkers was something he'd never thought he'd see, and it was all done with firecrackers, Molotov cocktails, and a pipe bomb. He really needed to remember that for future use. Pipe bombs he would most likely never use because he didn't know how to make them, but Molotov cocktails were easy to make. And apparently, they worked well.

He looked back at the others. "Alright. It's clear. Let's go."

The group made their way down the street, stepping over charred remains as they went. They each brandished their individual weapons in case any more showed up. Lee, Kyle, and Kenny each carried rifles. Deacon decided on the 12-gauge shotgun he had been showing off earlier, although he decided to take Ronan's advice and hold it the right way. Reggie, Michelle, and Cassie all carried handguns. Reggie and Michelle didn't feel comfortable taking anything bigger, and Cassie felt that anything bigger would feel too bulky. She liked the freedom of movement that a pistol gave her, so she could easily switch between her gun and her knife as she pleased.

Lee and Kyle led the way, each of them taking out any stragglers that managed to escape being burned or blown up, until they reached the pharmacy.

"Alright," Kyle said, taking charge. "Cassie, get on that door. The rest of you fan out. Nothing and no one gets near that door until she's got it open."

The group formed a semi-circle around the door so they could keep an eye on all directions while Cassie got started on picking the lock on the front door. It was quiet at first, each person intent on their surroundings, looking for any movement. A runner would come flying out of nowhere on occasion and would get shot down just as quickly. Hunters would also make an appearance, but most of the time, the group didn't even know they were there until they heard a far-off gunshot and a body would hit the ground. Ronan was doing his job splendidly to the relief of the group. After a while though, walkers could be seen shuffling towards them in large groups, from every direction.

"I can't believe there are still so many of them left," Reggie remarked, looking pensive.

"Well this is a big city," Michelle pointed out.

"Cass, you want to hurry it up a little bit," Kenny said as he reloaded his gun.

"I'm trying. This lock is stuck," Cassie said through gritted teeth. She was sure she had the tumblers locked in place. The lock just wouldn't turn.

"Well get it unstuck," Deacon urged.

"What do think I'm doing?" she snapped.

Clementine looked through her binoculars, her stomach clenched in worry. She could see walkers heading towards her friends, a lot of them. If they didn't get inside soon, they were going to be overrun. Remembering that she was supposed to be searching for hunters, she swept her binoculars across the buildings, alleys, and windows, anyplace that a hunter could potentially hide. She spotted one actually sitting on top of the pharmacy roof, getting ready to jump off right on top of Lee and the others.

"Ronan, there. On top of the pharmacy," Clementine said, pointing.

Ronan set his sights on the pharmacy and saw the hunter Clementine was talking about. "Gotcha," he said as he lined up his shot and pulled the trigger. He smiled in satisfaction as he saw his bullet rip through the hunter's skull and it fell limp, hanging precariously off the roof's edge.

"Nice shot," Clementine praised, smiling. Her smile faded, however, when she heard faint growling behind her. Lowering her binoculars, she turned around and her eyes widened. Several runners were climbing up onto the roof on the opposite side. "Ronan, behind us!"

At Clementine's warning, Ronan lowered his rifle and spun around. "Shit," he muttered as he saw a bunch of runners advancing towards them fast. Knowing the sniper rifle wouldn't be much use at close range, he dropped it in favor of pulling out his pistol. Clementine followed his example and pulled out her own gun.

They both fired upon the oncoming runners, taking out one after another, but more kept climbing up. Ronan glanced behind to see how the others were faring when he noticed a couple more runners climbing up on their side as well. "Damn it. There are more coming up behind us. I didn't know these bastards could climb," he said in frustration.

"Neither did I. What do we do?" Clementine asked as she fired off another round.

"We have to get the hell off this roof," Ronan said. He quickly reached down into the box, grabbed a handful of firecrackers, and stuffed them in his pocket. Then he grabbed their last pipe bomb and urged Clementine toward the door, firing his gun as he went. He stopped in front of the door and gave Clementine a light shove. "Go, get downstairs."

"What about you?" Clementine asked.

Ronan fired his gun twice in quick succession, killing two runners almost simultaneously when they got too close. Then he took out his zippo and flipped it open. "I'll be down in a minute," he said.

Clementine hesitated a moment before turning and running down the stairs into the gun shop. Ronan waited until Clementine was out of harm's way before he lit the fuse on the pipe bomb and then pushed the button to activate the beacon. But before he could throw it, he saw a hunter flying towards him out of the corner of his eye. He quickly jumped through the doorway, dropping the pipe bomb in the process. He almost ended up falling down the stairs but just managed to catch himself on the railing.

He turned toward the door and realized with trepidation that he had dropped the pipe bomb right outside the door, and it was now completely surrounded by runners and hunters. It was too close, but there was no way he could reach it to throw it a safer distance. So, he turned and ran back down the stairs. The explosion occurred the minute he reached the bottom, and the force of it knocked him off his feet. He fell into a shelving unit and then he hit the ground, his head bouncing off the floor with a sickening thud. He felt the agonizing pain explode through his skull, and then darkness overtook him.

* * *

Lee gripped his rifle tightly and fired off several shots, killing two walkers and a runner, but more were still coming. This was taking longer than expected. He turned toward Cassie. "How's it coming, Cassie?" he called.

"I almost got it," Cassie replied.

"This is taking too damn long," Deacon said, killing two more walkers.

"Deacon's right. We need to get inside now," Kyle said, glancing back to see how close Cassie was to getting that door open.

"Kyle! Look out!" Reggie warned.

Kyle turned back just in time to see a hunter flying towards him. "Shit!" he yelled as he dropped to the ground. The hunter went sailing over him and landed just behind where Cassie was crouched. Both Deacon and Kenny turned around and shot it at the same time, blowing its head off.

"Are you ok?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, fine," Kyle replied, pulling himself to his feet.

"I thought Ronan was supposed to be taking care of those things," Michelle said.

Kyle looked toward the gun store, his brow furrowed in concern. "I think something's wrong. I don't see them on the roof anymore."

"What!?" Lee exclaimed, his head jerking around. His worry for Clementine skyrocketed as he followed Kyle's gaze and realized that he was right.

At that moment, just as Cassie voiced her triumph over finally getting the door open, they saw and heard an explosion on the rooftop of the gun store. Dirt, debris, and several bodies were vaulted into the air almost like confetti.

"NO!" Lee cried, running blindly toward the gun store, oblivious to the dozens of walkers standing in his way.

Kyle stepped in front of him before he could get too far and blocked his path. "No, there's too many of them. You'll never make it," he said, holding him back. "We have to get inside. C'mon." He practically had to drag Lee into the pharmacy followed by the rest of the group.

Kenny hesitated for a moment, staring back the way they had come. He was worried about Clementine too, and he so wanted to go back to check to make sure she was alright. But Kyle was right. There were too many of them. So, with a muttered expletive, he ran inside and slammed the door behind him.

It turned out, they were right. The place was well-stocked. The shelves were full of all kinds of meds, antibiotics, bandages, peroxide, rubbing alcohol, everything a survivor needed in a zombie apocalypse. But somehow, none of them seemed to care at that moment. They all stood scattered around the room, exhausted and shell-shocked at the prospect that they may have just lost two people.

Lee felt like he couldn't breathe as he staggered to a wall and sat down against it, staring straight ahead. He couldn't take it. Clementine was supposed to be safe up there, safer than if she had been with him at least. Now she was…He couldn't finish the thought. He couldn't think. He felt like he was shutting down. Peripherally, he saw Kenny sit down next to him, but he didn't acknowledge his presence. And Kenny didn't say anything either so they just sat in silence.

Cassie crouched down in front of Lee, looking pensive. "Lee?" she said. He didn't react. "Lee, look at me." He still didn't move, but she continued anyway. "Look, I know you're upset and worried about Clementine. I am too, but we don't know anything yet. They weren't on that roof when the explosion occurred. You saw it. You and I both know that she is one tough little girl, and I'm sure she's ok. But right now, we need to focus on finishing this. We need you, Lee. Please."

A high-pitched alarm suddenly started going off, piercing everyone's ears. For a moment, none of them knew quite what to do as they covered their ears in an attempt to block out the sound.

"Oh great. Now what?" Cassie said to herself as she stood up straight.

"That's sounds like a security alarm," Kyle yelled to be heard over the noise.

"How is the security system still active? Doesn't that require power?" Reggie asked.

"I don't know. Everyone look around for a control panel or something. We need to get it turned off," Kyle said.

Lee was so far down in his own little world that the blaring alarm didn't even register to him. Everything sounded muffled and fuzzy. He didn't want to come back. It was safe here. There was no pain or worry, no anxiety or fear. But he couldn't stop thinking about what Cassie said. They really didn't know anything about what had happened at the gun store. He hadn't seen Clementine on that roof when the explosion occurred. She could still be alive. She could be ok. And until he saw otherwise, he was willing to believe that she was ok. He needed to because he couldn't afford to just shut down. There were still people counting on him, who needed him, and he didn't want to let them down. And what if Clementine was alive? If he just gave up, then he wouldn't be able to help her. He had to wake up.

In making that decision, the world seemed to snap back into place, and everything became so clear. He blinked and looked around. He heard the whining alarm and saw everyone looking around, presumably trying to figure out a way to shut it off. Taking a deep breath, he got up off the floor just as Michelle called to the others from the office next to the front counter. They all gathered around the office door and Lee followed behind. The office was small with only a desk and computer occupying the space. Kyle leaned down to look at the computer screen.

"I'll be damned. This place does have power," he said.

"Kyle," Lee said, taking a step forward. "Can you shut it down?"

Kyle glanced back at Lee for a brief moment before returning his attention to the computer. "I don't know. Maybe." His fingers flew over the keyboard. "Come on, come on," he pleaded, as if muttering a few words of encouragement would get the computer to do what he was asking. It was a few minutes before he finally smiled in triumph. "Got it!" The alarm stopped abruptly and he sighed in relief.

"Guess all that computer knowledge isn't useless after all," Lee commented.

Kyle gave him a sly smile over his shoulder. Lee returned the smile before turning away with a sigh, rubbing a hand over his face.

Cassie stepped up next to him. "You okay?" she inquired.

"Yeah. I just retreated inside myself for a minute there," Lee replied.

"Well, I'm glad you made it back," she said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks," he replied with a smile.

"Son of a bitch," Kyle muttered.

They both turned around to see Kyle still staring at the computer screen.

"What is it?" Deacon asked.

Kyle turned toward the group, looking pensive. "It looks like the alarm was set to go off every few hours."

"What? Why would someone do that?" Reggie asked.

"Maybe to keep people from getting inside," Lee suggested. There was a moment of silence as they all thought about the implications of that.

"Okay, I was leery about this from the start," Michelle began, "but if someone deliberately set that alarm to keep people out, then maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I mean what if whoever it is comes back? What if all this stuff belongs to them?"

"That's bullshit. You can't just claim an entire store for yourself. Now I say we just take what we need and we get the hell out of here," Deacon said. "For all we know, whoever set that alarm could be long gone or dead."

"I don't know about this," Reggie said uncertainly.

Kenny took a deep breath. "I hate to say it, but I agree with Deacon. We need these meds, and there's more than enough for all of us. It ain't like we're taking all of it."

"Yeah, but remember the last time we took supplies that didn't belong to us?" Lee said, looking pointedly at Kenny.

Kenny sighed and lowered his eyes. He did indeed remember. It had seemed like a blessing at the time when they found that abandoned car full of food. They didn't realize the consequences of their actions when they decided to take it until later, and they almost lost Clementine, not to mention Lee and Kenny almost died in their journey to get her back. "Yeah, I do," he said quietly, not quite sure what to do now.

After a moment, Kyle stepped forward. "Alright, Deacon's right. Let's gather up everything we need and get out of here fast. We didn't come all this way for nothing."

Deacon readily started grabbing supplies and stuffing them into his backpack. Reggie and Michelle still looked a bit uncertain, but they followed nonetheless. Lee, Cassie, and Kenny started to follow but stopped when they heard loud pop, pop, popping noises coming from outside.

"What was that?" Cassie asked.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – Discovering the Pharmacy's Secret

Ronan blinked his eyes open to find he was lying on the cold, hard floor staring blurrily at the tile ceiling. Puzzled, he tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his chest and a heavy height prevented him from moving too much. He blinked his eyes to try to clear his vision and saw that a heavy shelf was lying on top of him, pinning him to the ground. And then he remembered the pipe bomb going off. He got knocked off his feet into the shelf. It must have fell over on top of him. He gripped the edge of the shelf and tried to push it off of him, but it was too heavy and the pain was too great. He guessed that he probably had a few broken ribs, and now he was stuck.

He started looking around trying to find something that he could may be use as leverage to get this shelf off. His stomach clenched when he spotted Clementine lying face down on the ground near the stairs, her head turned away from him. Oh god, he hoped she wasn't seriously hurt.

"Hey, kid," he called, his voice a little raspy. He cleared his throat and spoke in a louder voice. "Kid, can you hear me?" She didn't move and his worry rose up a notch. "Clementine!" he yelled.

Clementine's eyes snapped open at the sound of her name being called. She shifted slowly before lifting her head and then pushing herself up to sit back on her haunches. She felt dizzy and she rubbed the side of her head to try to relieve the steady throb behind her eyes. She looked around dazedly until she heard her name being called again. Her gaze settled on Ronan lying on the floor trapped under a shelf, and her eyes immediately cleared.

"Ronan!" she cried worriedly as she scampered across the floor on her hands and knees.

Ronan gave her a relieved smile. "Hey, kid. You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so. My head hurts," she replied, rubbing her right temple with her fingers.

"You probably hit your head when you fell. Any dizziness? Blurred vision? Are you seeing double?"

Clementine blinked at the rapid-fire questions. Then she thought about it. "I felt dizzy when I first got up, but other than that, no."

Ronan sighed in relief. "Probably just a mild concussion then. You should be fine."

"But what about you?" she asked in concern.

"I'm fine," he replied, looking at the shelf pinning him down. "I'm just stuck."

Clementine looked at the shelf. With a determined look on her face, she got up, gripped the shelf with both hands, and tried to lift it herself. It didn't even move an inch.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. On three, ok?" Ronan said as he prepared to push. Clementine nodded in agreement. "One, two, three." On three, they both tried to lift the shelf off at the same time. It moved a little, but not enough for Ronan to crawl out. He winced when the weight of the shelf pressed down once more on his chest. Luckily, it wasn't a jarring impact so he didn't think it injured his ribs any further. He sighed as he relaxed and stared up at the ceiling. "Damn it," he muttered.

Clementine got on her knees next to him. "What do we do now?" she asked.

Ronan's brow furrowed. There was no way he was getting out here, not without more help, and he had no idea how long it was going to take the others to finish up at the pharmacy. He didn't relish the idea of sitting here waiting for however long that was going to be, and there was Clementine to consider. The store was relatively safe. The back door was closed, and walkers wouldn't be able to fit under that shutter. But there was the door to the roof to consider. Glancing towards the stairs, he saw that the door had been blown off its hinges and was now lying in the stairwell leaning up against a wall, which meant there was easy access to the store from the roof. Any hunter or runner could get in through the there. The odds of that happening were pretty slim unless they had a reason to climb up there, unless of course, they were attracted by the explosion. If that were the case, though, they probably would have been on them by now. He didn't quite know how long they were out. Still he didn't want to run the risk of them getting in here. He couldn't exactly fight them off. Clementine was a pretty capable kid, but she still was just a kid. There was only so much she could handle on her own.

Then again, sending her out there on her own wasn't a very appealing idea either. The streets were crawling with those flesh-eating monsters. There was no way she would be able to make it past them unless she camouflaged herself, but that wouldn't protect her from the hunters. Unless...He shifted a little bit so he could reach into his pocket and pulled out the firecrackers he had grabbed. With these she might have a chance of reaching the others. At least she would be with people who could protect her better than he could at the moment.

"Here, take these," he said as he handed her the firecrackers. "I want you to go find the others and tell them what happened."

Clementine shook her head vehemently. "I can't just leave you."

"You have to. Clementine, look at me," he said seriously.

Clementine blinked as she realized he had called her by her name again. He had always just called her kid, and she liked hearing him say her name. Then again, she liked it when he called her kid too. It was like when Lee called her sweet pea. But the fact that he was using her name in this situation made her realize how serious it was. She looked him in the eye.

"It's going to be ok," he said calmly. "I'll be fine. They can't get in here, and the sooner you go find the others, the faster they can get back here to get me out."

"Ok," she said, nodding her head, a small hitch in her breathing. She didn't want to leave him in such a vulnerable state, but he was right. She couldn't get him out herself. She had to go find the others. Grabbing the firecrackers, she turned to leave.

"Clem," he called, and she turned back toward him. He pulled his police badge out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Take this, and I promise you we'll see each other again."

She took the badge and held it reverently in her hand, this small gesture and the conviction in his voice bringing tears to her eyes. That badge was important to him, she knew, and she made a silent vow to herself that she would take good care of it until she had a chance to give it back. And somehow, she knew she would get that chance.

She gave him a smile and a nod before stuffing the badge in her pocket. She moved swiftly and silently to the open shutter. She crouched down and glanced outside to make sure there weren't any walkers lurking nearby. When she didn't see any, she crawled out onto the street. She walked quickly but silently down the street. She could see the large group of walkers in front of the pharmacy, but thankfully it wasn't as big as it had been when they first arrived.

She crept up as close as she dared to the group of walkers. She took out her silver zippo lighter with the butterfly sticker on it and lit the firecrackers in her hand. With the fuse fizzling away, she tossed the firecrackers into an alley on side of the street and then slipped into another alley on the opposite side. She watched as the walkers shuffled toward the loud popping. A few hunters, whom she didn't even know were there, also jumped down from nearby buildings, attracted by the sound. When she saw an opening, she made a break for the pharmacy, sprinting across the open space. The door opened just as she got there and she ran straight through, right into Lee's open arms.

"Clem, thank god," Lee said with a sigh of relief.

Clementine wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling better just being in his strong arms. He rubbed soothing circles on her back until she felt relaxed enough to release her tight hold. Kenny knelt down beside her.

"You alright, darlin'?" he asked. She nodded and wrapped her arms around him as well. He gladly returned the gesture. "We were worried about you, Clem. Glad to see you're ok."

"I'm ok," Clementine said as she released her hold on Kenny. "But we have to go back for Ronan."

"Clem, what happened? Where is Ronan?" Kyle inquired.

Clementine explained what had happened and how Ronan got trapped under a shelf. "We have to go back for him," she repeated. "I tried to get him out myself, but I couldn't lift it."

"It's ok, Clem," Cassie said gently. "We'll go back for him."

"Of course, we will," Kyle said. "But first we need to finish gathering what we need. It won't take long, I promise. And then we'll get him out of there."

"Ok," Clementine said with a nod.

The group went back to gathering the supplies they needed, trying to get together as much as they could. Clementine, however, walked toward the back of the store and sat down against the wall with her legs bent. She took out Ronan's badge and stared at it. She hoped he was ok. She looked up when Lee sat down next to her.

"Don't worry, sweet pea. I'm sure Ronan will be fine. He's a tough one," Lee said comfortingly.

Clementine smiled. "Yeah, he is," she said. She returned her gaze to the badge. "He gave me this just before I left. He promised we'd see each other again."

"You will. We'll get him out of there, Clem," Lee promised.

Suddenly, there was a loud, metallic crash that resonated from behind a closed door in the back of the pharmacy. Lee grabbed his rifle and jumped to his feet, whirling around to face the closed door. Clementine also climbed to her feet and peered around him. Everyone else stopped what they were doing to stare at the door, waiting to see what would happen next.

"What the hell was that?" Deacon asked.

"I don't know, but it didn't sound good," Kyle replied.

"Stay here," Lee said to Clementine, who nodded. He crept towards the door quietly.

"Be careful, Lee," Kenny warned.

Lee put his ear to the door to see if he could hear anything else from inside but heard nothing. He slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open to reveal what appeared to be an empty room. Metal counters lined the left wall from what he could see passed the opened door, and there was a metal island in the center of the room with a few bottles of prescriptions lying on it. The right wall had a large white shelf that completely encompassed almost the entire wall. The shelves were mostly empty except for a few empty pill bottles.

Brow furrowed, he took a few steps into the room but stopped when he heard a low growl that sent his heart racing. He knew that was the sound of a hunter. And sure enough one those foul creatures crawled out from behind the center island and looked straight at him. With a loud screech, it leapt towards him. Acting quickly, Lee swung with his gun, hitting it in the head with the butt of his rifle and causing it stagger back a step. While it was stunned, he aimed his rifle and sent a spray of bullets through its brain.

Kenny came up behind him. "Fuck. How the hell did that thing get in here?" he asked.

Lee stepped further into the room while everyone else crowded in the doorway. He looked around and noticed directly to the left of the door a large metal cage sitting on a counter and a second one lying on the floor with the door wide open. He crouched down to inspect the one on the floor. The inside of it was coated in blood, old and new, and the bars of the cage were bent outwards in some places as if something had been caged within it.

"I think it was in here to begin with," Lee said as he stood up.

"You think it was in the cage?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"Ok, things just keep getting weirder and weirder," Cassie said. "First, we find out that someone has set the alarm system to go off every few hours, and now we find that someone has been keeping a pet hunter in a cage. I am liking this less and less. We should just get out of here."

Before anyone could respond, there was a loud, metallic click, and suddenly, the large white shelf started to shift along the wall.

"What the fuck?" Kenny exclaimed.

"Oh, now what?" Cassie said, exasperated.

"I think things are just about to get weirder," Reggie stated.

They all watched as the shelf shifted slowly along the wall to reveal a metal door in the far corner of the room. Two beeps preceded the door opening outward, and every single person in the room aimed their guns at the now open door. A middle-aged man with dark blond hair stepped through the door. With a rumpled green shirt beneath a dirty white lab coat and baggy black jeans, he looked like a grungy doctor that was every patient's worst nightmare, and the scruffy beard forming on his face didn't help his image. Blue eyes widened when he saw seven guns pointed at him.

He immediately threw up his hands in surrender. "Whoa! I'm unarmed!" he said frantically.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kenny asked, still keeping his gun trained on the stranger.

"My name is Dr. Kieran White. I work here."

"Here in the pharmacy?" Lee inquired.

"No, not exactly," Kieran stammered.

"What the hell does that mean?" Deacon asked, his tone hard.

Kieran flinched slightly at the harsh tone in his voice. Then he shook himself and tried to put on a brave face. "I work in a lab just down there," he replied, jerking his head in the direction of the door he had just come through. "Look, I need your help…to find a cure."

Lee and Kenny looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"A cure? As in…" Lee began.

"Yes. A cure for whatever's causing this," Kieran finished with a nod of his head.

Lee lowered his weapon slightly. A cure? Was it really possible? It sounded too good to be true, but what if it really was a possibility? It didn't really matter to him because he was immune, but everyone else, all his friends and Clementine, none of them would have to worry about ever turning into one of those things. And maybe one day everything could get back to normal.

"You can do that? How?" Lee asked.

"In my lab. Here, let me show you," Kieran said, beckoning them to come follow him.

Kenny, ever the mistrustful one, kept his gun steady. "And we're just supposed to trust you?"

For a moment, the timid doctor disappeared to be replaced by annoyance. "Look, you're the one with the gun, boss. You're in control. I just want to show you something."

Kenny glanced at Lee questioningly. "What do you think?"

"If there's even a chance that he really could come up with a cure, we should hear him out."

"I agree," Cassie said. "There's no harm in just looking."

Kenny sighed. "Alright. Lead the way," he said, lowering his gun.

Deacon snorted in derision. "Man, and I thought for a moment, you guys were going to be smart about something for a change."

"Shut the fuck up," Kenny snapped.

"Deacon, you don't have to go down there if you don't want to," Kyle said. "But the rest of us are going."

"Oh, I'm going, if only to keep Michelle safe," Deacon said, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"That's all you care about, isn't it? Damn the rest us, right?" Reggie said as she walked past him with a glare.

"Princess, don't push my buttons," Deacon warned.

Michelle rolled her eyes and pushed his arm off of her. "Deacon, don't be a dick," she said as she followed Reggie.

"But babe, I'm just trying to look out for you," he pleaded as he chased after her.

Kieran led the group down a flight of concrete stairs that opened up in a huge sophisticated science lab. There were several chrome lab tables covered in beakers, flasks and all sorts of other science equipment. And unlike the rest of the places that they had been to, everything in the room seemed to be in pristine condition. Obviously, this Kieran guy had taken good care of the place all these years.

"Wow," Lee said in astonishment. This place was pretty impressive.

"What is this place?" Kyle asked.

"This is a top-secret government lab. Or at least, it used to be. We stopped receiving any kind of government communications a long time ago," Kieran explained.

"We? Who's we?" Lee asked.

"My partner, Dr. Max Hooper. We've been working here together for nearly ten years," Kieran replied as he led them deeper into the lab to the back of the room where he stopped at a workstation that looked to be have been recently used. "When the dead starting walking, we pretty much stopped hearing from our superiors. So, Max and I took it upon ourselves to use the facilities and our resources to try to come up with a cure. We worked on it for the first year with no such luck."

"So, what happened to this Max?" Kenny asked.

"He…couldn't take it, I guess. He started acting weird," Kieran replied, biting his lower lip.

"Weird how?" Reggie inquired.

Kieran averted his gaze. "Like crazy. First, he started muttering to himself, just rambling on and on about nothing. You know, talking crazy. Then I found out he started doing his own experiments on the dead."

"Wait a minute. You're saying he started doing experiments on walkers?" Lee asked, his brow furrowed.

Kieran sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately, I didn't find out in time to stop him."

Lee's eyes widened as he caught on to the implications. "Shit," he whispered.

Kenny looked at him in puzzlement. "What? Did I miss something?"

"The hunters, man," Lee said, giving Kenny a pointed look.

Kenny blinked and then narrowed his eyes at Kieran. "You're saying that Max created the hunters?" he asked, a fire in his eyes.

"If that's what you call them, then yes," Kieran replied, looking ashamed.

"Jesus," Lee breathed as he leaned back against one of the lab tables. He couldn't believe it. How could someone be so far gone as to create something as horrendous as those hunters? The world was in ruins, having been ravaged by the walking dead, and then some mad scientist had to go and create a whole new, even more dangerous variation of such creatures. It was unfathomable.

"Mother fucker!" Kenny exclaimed, kicking a glass beaker across the floor to shatter against the wall.

"Hey! You want to be careful. I still have to work here," Kieran cried.

"That's fucking sick. Where is this asshole? I'd like to give him a piece of my mind," Deacon said, turning to face the scientist.

Kieran sighed. "Gone," he replied. "I kicked him out when I found out what he was doing. I haven't seen him since."

"That's good, I guess," Reggie remarked.

"Yeah. Thank heavens for small favors, but now what are we supposed to?" Michelle asked.

"I don't think there's much we can do. The hunters are already all over the city. We just have to deal with them like we deal with the walkers. What else can we do?" Kyle said.

"We can keep searching for a cure," Kieran stated.

"Have you had any luck?" Lee asked curiously.

"Uh, some," Kieran replied as he walked back to his workstation. "I believe the key is in the blood. I've been studying the blood of virals…"

"Virals?" Clementine spoke up, not knowing what the word meant.

Kieran paused and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, yeah," he said slowly. "The ones that exhibit more human characteristics."

"Oh, those. We call them runners," Lee supplied.

"Right. Runners. Anyway, I've noticed that they were able to partially fight off the effects of the bite," Kieran explained as he gathered together a bunch of papers, presumably his findings on his previous experiments.

"So, John was right. It is a virus," Cassie said.

"Uh, yes and no. It's hard to explain, but I believe if I can figure out what caused their immune systems to fight it off partially, maybe I can duplicate the effects enough so that a person will be able to fight it off completely." As he was speaking, he suddenly became a whirlwind of activity as he moved from one part of the room to another, gathering together a microscope, some glass slides, a few beakers and test tubes, and a few other pieces of scientific equipment and gathered them together at his workstation. He paused and looked up. "I think I'm close, but I need another sample of viral blood, or runners, whatever you want to call them. I need you to get me some more."

"Well, I have a better idea. Why don't you take some of Lee's blood?" Cassie suggested. "He's immune. If anyone has the key to a cure, it's him."

"Really? Interesting," Kieran said, turning piercing eyes on him.

Lee blinked several times as they all turned to look at him. He hadn't thought of it that way, but he supposed that was true. Whatever made him immune could be the key to finding a cure. "Uh, yeah," he said, feeling rather uncomfortable at everyone staring at him. "Do you need a blood sample?"

Kieran turned away, looking thoughtful. "Yes, if you're willing to give it, but first, I still need a sample from one of those runners as you call them. For comparison."

Lee nodded. "I'll go," he said, turning to the rest of the group. "The rest of you stay here. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Great. Take this," Kieran said, handing Lee a vial and a syringe. "Try to fill the vial as much as you can."

"Got it," Lee replied as he carefully placed the two items in his jacket pocket.

"Do you have to go?" Clementine asked.

Lee turned and knelt down in front of her. "Yes, Clem. This is important. If Kieran can find a cure, this may all be over. Don't worry. It shouldn't take long, and then we can go find Ronan. It'll be ok."

Clementine nodded, and as Lee turned to go, she called out one last thing, "Please be lucky."

Lee smiled as he looked back at her. "I have been so far."

"Yeah, but luck can run out," Kenny said. "You sure you don't need any help?"

"No, I think I got it. I have a plan. Don't worry. I'll be quick," Lee said reassuringly even though deep down he was feeling kind of nervous.

"Be careful," Kyle said. "I'm sure that alarm brought more of them right to us. There may be a lot out there."

"Right," Lee said with a nod as he turned to leave.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 – The Special Infected

Getting out there and getting a blood sample from a runner was not going to be an easy task, Lee knew. But as he told Kenny, he had a plan. Camouflage. Kyle had told them that camouflage didn't work on the hunters. He assumed that they had used walker guts when they found that out, but what if he used a hunter for camouflage instead? Would that be enough to conceal him from hunters as well as walkers, or would it only work on hunters? God, he hoped that wasn't the case otherwise he would get attacked as soon as he walked out that door, but what other choice did he have?

But first things first. He searched through the pharmacy and found a tan trench coat in the back office that someone had left behind. He tried it on and found it to be a little snug, but he was able to button it up so it would do. He brought it over to the body of the hunter he had killed earlier and laid it flat on the floor so the inside was facedown. He then took off his jacket, making sure to put the vial and syringe in the pocket of the trench coat, and rolled up his sleeves. He didn't want to soil his new clothes. Then he used his knife to cut open the hunter's stomach and reached his hand in with a grimace. No matter how many times he's done this, the smell and the feel of it still made him sick because he was essentially ripping out what used to be a person's entrails. It was enough to make anyone's stomach churn.

Trying not to think about exactly what he was doing, he started to rub the entrails over the back of the trench coat. Once that was done, he slipped the coat on and then covered the front of it as well. When the trench coat was thoroughly smeared with blood and guts, he headed towards the door with his knife still clutched in his hand, just in case. Heart pounding in his chest, he reached for the doorknob. Walking through a herd always made him nervous even though he was camouflaged, but this time was worse because he wasn't sure if this was going to work completely. It was like a whole new ballgame.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened the door to reveal dozens of walkers meandering around on the street. A few of them turned their heads in his direction, and he held his breath in anticipation. But they just turned away negligently and continued on. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

So far so good.

He weaved his way through the crowd, careful not bump into any of them, all the while keeping an eye out for any runners. He stopped in his tracks when he came upon a hunter crouched on the ground with its back to him. It looked like it was chewing on something, and Lee didn't want to think what that something could be. Then, all of a sudden, it stood up and turned toward him with a growl. His heartrate spiked as terror gripped him, and every instinct he had told him to run. But he held his ground and forced himself to stay put. The hunter stared right at him for several long seconds before it turned, got down on all fours, and made a great leap to the top of an apartment building across the street. He took a few slow, deep breaths to calm his racing heart, and then he continued on.

It was little ways down the street away from the herd that he finally found one. And it was a rather surprising encounter. He was just walking down the street when a runner came barreling onto the street from a side alley straight towards him. He almost stumbled backwards on instinct until the thing just stopped suddenly right in front of him and stood there, shoulders heaving. It was the weirdest thing he had ever seen. It was like it knew he was there, but it just couldn't find him. He took a step to the side, and its head turned to follow him. But it still didn't attack.

Ok, that was enough of that. This thing was freaking him out.

Adjusting his grip on the knife, he raised it and jammed the blade into the thing's forehead. Glancing around to make sure he didn't gain any unwanted attention, he knelt down next to the body and rolled up the sleeve on its left arm. He then pulled out the vial and syringe. Jabbing the needle into the arm, he extracted a syringe full of blood twice, enough to fill the vial. He pocketed the full vial and returned to the pharmacy.

Once back inside, he quickly removed the blood-stained trench coat and donned his leather jacket once again as he hurried back to the secret lab. Everyone else was spread out throughout the room and they all looked at him expectantly as he entered.

"Got it," he said, holding up the full vial in triumph as he walked straight towards Kieran standing at his workstation.

Kieran looked up as Lee approached, and his eyes lit upon the vial in Lee's hand. He took it reverently in his hands and smiled with apparent glee. "Yes, finally. Thank you, Lee. You've helped me out more than you'll ever know."

Lee was about to ask about giving a sample of his own blood, but before he could say anything, Kieran was hurrying across the room toward a fridge against the wall. In his haste, he negligently kicked a large, yellow flashlight with a pistol grip across the floor, sending it sliding under a metal cabinet. But he didn't even seem to notice, and Lee wondered why a valuable piece of equipment like that was just lying on the floor to be kicked around. He refocused his attention on Kieran, however, as the scientist opened the glass door of the fridge and pulled out a test tube tray with three test tubes in it. Each test tube was filled with a different color solution. One was sort of a neon green, another was a dark glue, and the third one was blood red.

Kieran placed the test tubes on the lab table and removed their stoppers.

"What are you doing?" Clementine inquired curiously, moving to stand next to the scientist to see better.

But Kieran didn't answer as he took the vial of blood and poured a small amount into each test tube. His lips curled into a smile as he watched the small chemical reaction in each of the test tubes. There was something about that smile that made Lee nervous. It was almost…maniacal.

"Yes. Now the fun can really begin," Kieran said quietly.

With lightning speed, he grabbed Clementine from behind, wrapping one arm across her torso, pinning her arms to her sides. With a squeal, Clementine bucked and kicked but froze instantly when she felt cold metal against her neck as Kieran pulled a knife from his jacket and placed the blade just under her chin. All she could do was look at Lee with terrified eyes.

"CLEMENTINE!" Lee cried.

"LET GO OF HER, YOU FUCKER!" Kenny roared furiously.

"Ah, ah, ah," Kieran said as he backed away. "Don't take another step unless you want this girl's blood painting the floor."

"Alright, alright," Lee said, holding up his hands in placation. "Just please don't hurt her."

Lee wasn't quite sure what to do. This guy seemed to be holding all the cards. He looked at Clementine, and his heart ached at the absolute terror in her eyes. He looked at the others, and everyone looked just as shell-shocked as he about the sudden turn of events. They also looked both worried and fearful for the little girl that was just taken hostage right in front of their very eyes, and no one seemed to know what to do. With a deep breath, he turned his gaze back to Kieran.

"Look," he said, trying to sound calm, "just let her go, and we'll leave. You'll never see us again."

"Oh, I don't think so. You see, I need her," Kieran replied. "I really must thank you again, Lee. You brought me the key ingredient that I was missing. Now my experiments can continue."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Deacon asked.

Cassie's eyes widened in horror as she realized the implications. "Oh my god. It's you. You were the one doing the experiments on walkers. You created the hunters."

Kieran looked at her with wide eyes, making him look completely crazy. He smiled. "Give the girl a prize."

"You sick fuck!" Kenny cried.

Kieran just laughed hysterically. "You're calling me sick? There are plenty of people out there who have done some pretty sick and twisted shit just to survive. I'm not the only one."

"Maybe. But at least none of them in their right mind would create more of the walking dead," Reggie said in disgust.

Kieran rolled his eyes to Reggie, causing her to shudder at the look of total insanity in his eyes. "Hm," he said, as if in deep thought. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I guess I'm just not in my right mind."

"So, did you just make up Max Hooper then?" Lee inquired.

"Oh no. He's real, and he really did try to stop me. And I really did kick him out. He's probably dead now."

"Why are you doing this?" Michelle asked, her voice trembling with fear.

"So I can continue my experiments of course. After all, every experiment needs test subjects," Kieran replied. His eyes roved around at them all as if sizing them up.

"You're experimenting on people too?" Cassie said, horrified.

"Yes." Kieran shrugged nonchalantly. "I find that people work best when creating my special infected as I call them. Best to start with a clean slate now that I've perfected my formula."

Kyle took a step forward. "You're insane if you think we're going to just let you experiment on us," he said with determination.

"Yes, you're right. I am insane. But you know what? Insanity is fun in a zombie apocalypse. You know what I've noticed. None of you people have called them zombies. No one. Every group I've met all have their little names for them. Walkers, lurkers, zeds, geeks, but no one has yet to use the word zombie. Is it that you're afraid to admit that's what they are? Because we all know that's what they are. Zombies. I just think that's funny."

Lee and Kenny glanced at each other while Kieran rambled on about word usage regarding the walkers. This guy was definitely a few fries short of a happy meal. But he wasn't just crazy, he was a mad scientist, which made him all the more dangerous. Lee feared just what Kieran had in store for them.

"Anyway, I think I'll be taking this pretty little girl with me," Kieran said, looking down at Clementine.

Clementine squeezed her eyes shut with a whine, wishing that this wasn't happening, that it was all just a dream.

"The hell you will," Lee growled, taking a step forward menacingly.

Kieran speared him with an intense gaze. "You think you can stop me? Let me put it this way, either she comes with me or I kill her now. Your choice."

"No, please. Just take me instead," Lee implored.

"You? No, I don't think so. You're immune. I have no use for you. Besides, I have a special experiment that requires a kid. So, I need her."

Lee deflated, and he turned his gaze away, closing his eyes. He knew he couldn't do anything, and it was very frustrating. If he tried to stop him from taking her, he would just kill her, but if he let her go, he will turn her into something worse than walkers. The thought of that just turned his stomach. He hated to admit it, but death actually seemed like the better alternative here. But he couldn't bare that either. Besides, if he let her go now, he might have a chance of saving her later. If they could track him down. It was a big if, but what else could he do?

"Oh, and I'll also be taking you and you," Kieran continued, pointing at Cassie and Deacon.

"Fuck that," Deacon said with a snort.

"You ain't taking her anywhere," Kenny snapped, stepping in front of Cassie.

"How many times do I have to **threaten** this kid, before you take the hint?" Kieran's attitude was all over the place with just that one sentence. He went from annoyed to angry, and then the last part of the sentence was said in sort of a sing-song voice with a creepy smile.

Deacon sighed. "Fuck," he said in defeat. He took a step forward, but Michelle grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back.

"Deacon," she said, her brow pinched in worry and fear.

He gave her a small smile and kissed her knuckles gently. "It's ok, babe. I won't let him turn me into a monster."

She reluctantly let go as he went to stand by Kieran's side, glaring at him the entire time.

"Kenny," Cassie said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You have to let me go."

"No," Kenny refused, shaking his head vehemently.

"Kenny, you have to," she said as she turned him around to face her. "You heard what he said. He'll kill Clementine."

"I know. I know," he said, his voice choked up with emotion. "It's just…I can't just stand by and let you go with him. I can't lose you, Cass. I can't lose another person that I love. Not again."

"Kenny," she said, her eyes bright as she cupped his face with her hands, "I love you too. It's going to be ok."

"You can't know that," he replied, almost sobbing now.

She leaned in and placed a tender kiss on his lips. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss in earnest. She pulled away and then leaned her forehead against his. "I do know. I don't know how I know. I just do. It's all going to be ok in the end. You'll see."

"How touching," Kieran interrupted. "Now get over here."

Cassie glared at him defiantly before turning her gaze to Lee. "You take care of him, ok?"

Lee looked at Kenny sympathetically. Kenny was blinking away tears and trying to hold on to his composure. Lee had seen him at worst after his family died, and he didn't want to see Kenny in that state again. He wasn't sure Kenny would survive another loss like that again. He truly hoped that Cassie was right. He returned his gaze to Cassie and nodded in response to her question.

Cassie gave him a grateful smile before she turned to Kenny. "We'll see each other again," she promised before she turned and walked away.

Kieran watched her closely as she walked towards him with her head held high. He smiled at her. "Good. Now be a dear, and grab the test tube tray for me. And please, be very very careful. We wouldn't want anything to break," he said significantly, putting just a little bit more pressure on the knife at Clementine's throat, causing her to suck in a sharp breath.

"Yeah, I get it," she said with a scowl as she grabbed the tray from the table.

"Good. Now, you two, go through that door," he ordered, indicating the door behind then with a flick of his head. "Don't try anything funny. Don't try to run away, or I'll kill her."

Deacon gave him a death glare until Cassie urged him toward the door with a push, not wanting him to cause any trouble with the mad man holding Clementine hostage.

"This ain't over. I'll find you, and I'll kill you," Kenny said with conviction.

Kieran smirked. "I don't think so. None of you will leave this room alive," he said as he backed up towards the door, keeping his eyes on the people in front of him. Then he quickly pulled a lever on the wall next to the door. Two huge metal tubes rose up from the hatches in the floor, big enough to hold a person inside, or worse. "Inside those tubes is my latest creation. I call them volatiles, and believe me, the name fits. There's still a few kinks I need to get out on their design, but I think they'll suit this situation just fine." He pressed a green button on the wall with his fist and quickly disappeared through the door.

The tubes started spinning slowly, but before it was revealed what was inside, the lights went out, plunging the whole room into complete darkness. A loud scream filled the room a moment later, much like the runners but more animalistic. Lee instinctively dove to the ground, hoping to make himself a smaller target in case these things could see in the dark. He didn't know what was in those tubes, but he was sure it wasn't good. He wasn't sure what else he could do when it was so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Then he remembered the flashlight Kieran had kicked underneath a cabinet. Where was that cabinet? He remembered it was right against the wall near the door Kieran had disappeared through. He started fumbling across the floor on his hands and knees in the direction he believed the cabinet to be, reaching one hand in front of him to make sure he didn't run into anything in the inky blackness.

Lee froze when he heard Michelle scream, which was abruptly cut off followed by a soft gurgling sound. Then he heard Reggie cry out her name. He winced in sympathy, not wanting to even imagine what might have happened to her as he kept moving. His fingers just brushed up against a cool metal surface when he heard Kenny call to him.

"Lee! Lee, where are you?"

Before Lee could answer, however, he heard Kenny cry out in pain. _Oh god, no_ , he thought. Heart thudding his ears, he ran his hand down the smooth metal until he found empty space. Hoping he was in the right spot, he reached his hand in and felt around until he felt the plastic handle of the flashlight. He pulled it out and fumbled to the find the button to turn it on. He nearly sighed in relief when he pushed the button and a bright beam of light emitted from it. He turned the beam toward where he last heard Kenny. He stopped and stared wide-eyed at the thing that was on top of his best friend. It was a large humanoid creature with red blistering pustules all across its shoulders and what looked like spikes jutting out of its sides. Its jaw was split open right down the middle, revealing a large mouth with sharp teeth. It was just about to take bite out of Kenny when Lee's flashlight lit upon it. It flinched away from the light as if in pain, and then with a screech disappeared into the shadows.

"Holy shit," Lee said. He quickly shook off his shock when he saw his friend lying on the ground, blood soaking through his shirt on his right flank. "Kenny!" he cried as he quickly crawled to where he lay. "Ken, man, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," he said through gritted teeth, his eyes squeezed shut. "Oh man, that thing packs a fucking punch."

Lee looked worriedly at the large blood stain on Kenny's shirt that was steadily getting bigger. "That thing got you good," he said as he gently lifted up the hem of Kenny's t-shirt to reveal four deep gashes in his side, each one oozing blood. Lee was concerned about the severity of the injury, but he couldn't help being a little relieved that it wasn't a bite. Of course, if they didn't treat the wound fast, it probably won't matter. He placed his hands over the wounds to put pressure, hoping to stop the bleeding.

"Lee! Kenny!" Kyle cried as he and Reggie rushed towards them.

"Oh god," Reggie said upon seeing Kenny's injury. "Is he going to be ok?"

"I don't know," Lee said gravely. Sensing movement to his right, he grabbed his flashlight with one hand and shined it in that direction. He caught a glimpse of a volatile before it disappeared into the darkness once again. He had almost forgotten they were still in danger. "Kyle, get over here. I need you to put pressure on the wounds."

"You got it," Kyle replied readily as he took Lee's place at Kenny's side and placed his hands over Kenny's wounds. Kenny hissed in pain, but otherwise didn't complain.

Lee stood up and took out his gun, trying to ignore the fact that his hands were covered in his best friend's blood. He shined his flashlight all around the room, trying to get a bead on where these things were, thinking maybe he might be able to kill them. He assumed there were at least two of them since there were two tubes. He swept his flashlight around the room and gasped when he caught sight of one of them crouched on the ground digging around inside Michelle's chest.

"No," Reggie whimpered, putting a hand over her mouth.

Lee immediately took aim with his gun, but the minute the light touched it, it screamed and ran off into the shadows just like the other one. He tried to follow it with his flashlight, but only caught glimpses of its back before it disappeared again. These volatiles didn't seem to like the light. Either they were afraid of it or it hurt them.

"Damn it. These things move too fast. I can't get eyes on them," Lee said as he swept the room with the flashlight once again.

"They don't seem to like the light either," Kyle pointed out.

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Lee replied.

"So, we use that to our advantage. We can use the light to keep them at bay," Reggie suggested.

"With only one flashlight between the four of us, that's going to be pretty hard," Kyle stated. "We need to get out of here."

"That's not going to be easy either," Lee said as he continued to move the flashlight around the room. He figured if he kept the light moving, it would be less likely one of those things would get the drop on one of them. "I don't think we can risk moving Kenny."

"I can move if I have to," Kenny said adamantly as he sat up slightly with a wince.

"Whoa, easy," Kyle said, placing a retraining hand on Kenny's chest.

Lee looked around the room. The way they had come in was on the other side of the room. They would have to cross the room to get there, and with only one flashlight among them, they would be pretty vulnerable from a lot of angles. But then again, they couldn't just sit there. They had to get out. As much as it pained him not to chase after the mad man that had taken Clementine, Cassie and Deacon, he knew they weren't ready to go chasing after him just yet, especially with Kenny injured.

"Ok, we need to move toward the door. Here, take this," he said, handing the flashlight to Reggie. "Keep an eye out for those volatiles. Kyle, help me with Kenny."

Lee and Kyle got on either side of Kenny and helped him up. Kenny grunted in pain as he was pulled to his feet, but after taking a few deep breaths, he gave a slight nod to Lee to indicate that he was good to go.

The group moved swiftly across the room. They guys took the lead while Reggie followed, keeping the light shining on them at all times. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lee and Kyle settled Kenny on the ground against a wall. Lee turned to see how Reggie was doing and his eyes widened as he saw a volatile coming up behind her. Since she was shining the light forward, she had no protection for her back. Before he could shout out a warning, it had jumped on top of her, pinning her to ground.

Reggie shrieked as she felt a heavy weight slam into her back, sending her sprawling on the ground. She lost her grip on the flashlight, her momentum sending it sliding across the floor to rest at Lee's feet. Lee quickly picked it up and pulled out his gun. He shone the light on the volatile and took aim. The volatile shied away from the light, but not before Lee got a shot off this time. He didn't know where he actually hit it, but he saw blood spray before it melded into the shadows with a scream. Reggie scrambled to her feet and joined them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Reggie, you ok?" Kyle asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm alright," she replied breathlessly as she wiped away the blood that had sprayed on her face.

"Kyle, check out the door," Lee said as he kept an eye out for the volatiles.

"Right," Kyle said. He felt his way along the wall and slowly ascended the stairs, trying not the trip on the steps he could barely see. He tried the door, but it wouldn't open. "Shit, it's locked!"

Lee sighed, trying to keep the panic at bay. Because they were stuck in a darkened room with no way out while a couple of ravenous creatures created by some mad scientist were trying to eat them.

They were so screwed.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 – Escaping the Lab

Ronan tried probably for about the fiftieth time to push the large shelf off himself with no success. He didn't know why he kept trying when he knew damn well that it wasn't going to budge. He just couldn't lie there and do nothing. It wasn't in his nature. He hated feeling useless. He felt useless when his wife, Julia, was killed right in front of him for trying to break up a seemingly harmless fight. He felt useless when Rex was bitten and on the verge of turning. And now he felt useless lying on the hard floor trapped under a damn shelf. It was infuriating. Not to mention his ribs hurt every time he moved, he definitely broke a few, and his back was starting to ache from lying on the tile floor all this time.

He lay back on the ground with a sigh. He was worried about Clementine. He hoped the little girl had made it to the pharmacy okay. He wondered what was taking the others so long to come get him. They had to know he was stuck here. Clementine would have told them. Unless she didn't make it to the pharmacy or something happened to them, in which case he would be stuck here for a while. He didn't like that idea. He couldn't help but think about all the walkers he had seen who were trapped or stuck one way or another. Whether they were tied to a tree, or strapped to a chair, or stuck in a car with the seatbelt still on because that's where they were when they died, and they were too mindless to get themselves unstuck. He wondered if that was to be his fate now.

He shook his head. He couldn't think like that. The others were coming for him. He had to hold on to that thought. And if not them, then John would come looking for them when they didn't return. He just had to hold on and hope that nothing had happened to his friends.

He was brought out of his musings when he heard voices from outside, and he hoped to god that it was his friends coming to free him. His hopes were dashed, however, when he realized that the voices he was hearing didn't belong to any of his friends, and they were coming from the opposite direction. _Oh shit, not more strangers,_ he thought. Strangers were iffy. They could be the nicest people in the world, although in this world that was not likely, or they could be murderers or thieves. He didn't relish the idea of meeting new people in the rather vulnerable position he was in. If they turned out to be bandits or something, he wasn't exactly in a position to defend himself.

He decided to keep quiet for now. Even though he desperately needed help, he wasn't going to expose himself to these people until he knew whether they were friend or foe. So, he waited and he listened.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" a deep voice asked.

"Yes," the other guy answered. This voice sounded younger than the first with a southern accent. "The guy at the hotel said they were heading to the pharmacy in this direction."

Ronan's brow furrowed. The guy at the hotel? Could they be talking about John? If John sent them, maybe they could be trusted. Of course, on the other hand, they could have just coerced the information from the good doctor, but to what purpose?

"There it is," the younger guy said, and a second later, two pairs of feet came into view through the open shutter and stopped. "Whoa."

"Well, judging by the carnage, I'd say they were here."

"Yeah, but where are they now? There's still a rather large group of lurkers in front of the pharmacy. No way they got past them."

"Well, maybe those showed up after they already got inside," the older guy suggested. "Look, you can see more bodies littering the street in front of the building. It's obvious they made it that far."

"We should check it out."

"Now hold on, Luke. I know you're feeling guilty about what happened with Lee, but that don't mean you gotta go getting yourself killed just to make up for it."

"Pete, I don't plan on getting myself killed, but you know what? If Lee is still alive right now, that means we were wrong, and I have to make sure that they're alright. It's our fault that they're even here. We should at least help them out if they need it."

Luke and Pete. Ronan didn't recognize the names, but one of them mentioned Lee. So maybe Lee and his group met these two sometime along the way. Judging by their conversation, Ronan would guess that maybe Lee was with them when he got bit, and they didn't believe him when he said that he was immune. It seemed that this Luke guy was concerned for Lee. Maybe that was worth something.

"Hey," Ronan called as loud as he dared. They didn't seem to hear him though. He didn't want to yell any louder and risk attracting more walkers. So, he looked around for something he could use to get their attention. He reached for an overturned box of ammo. When he picked it up, all the ammo fell out of it, but he didn't care as he sent the empty box sliding across the floor, underneath the shutter, and out onto the street.

"What the…" Luke exclaimed when the empty box came to rest at his feet.

"Someone's in there," Pete said.

"Hey! Help me!" Ronan called.

Luke got down on all fours and peered under the shutter. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Ronan. "Holy shit! Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just…I'm just stuck. You have to get me out of here," Ronan replied.

"Alright. Hold on. We'll get you out of there," Luke called.

Ronan watched as Luke pushed himself up and then grabbed to shutter to try to open it. "That won't open. You have to go around to the back." He watched as they disappeared from view, and he couldn't help but sigh in relief. Help had arrived. Even though it wasn't from the people he was expecting. Now he could actually do something to help his friends because he had a sneaking suspicion that they needed it, and it was driving him crazy feeling helpless.

Seconds later, the back door opened and the two men entered the store. Getting his first look at his saviors, it was about what Ronan was expecting. They looked a little rough around the edges. It was clear that they had been through some rough times, but then so had everybody these days. The concern he saw on their faces as they rushed to his side though made him firmly believe that he had made the right decision in asking for their help.

"God almighty, what happened in here?" Pete asked as he surveyed the ruined store.

"Uh, let's just say I had a little trouble with a pipe bomb," Ronan replied sheepishly.

"A what?" Luke asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise and disbelief.

"Never mind," Ronan said, shaking his head. "Just help me get this thing off of me."

"Oh, yeah. Pete, give me a hand," Luke said.

They each grabbed the shelf, and together, with a little help from Ronan, the two men managed to lift it enough for Ronan to crawl out from underneath. Gripping one arm across his midsection, Ronan stood back up with a wince. Now he was definitely sure he had some broken ribs. He turned to his two rescuers.

"Thank you," he said gratefully, and before either of them could reply, he was walking toward the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Luke asked.

"I got some friends I need to get back to," he replied with a glance over his shoulder.

"Well, wait a minute. Maybe you could help us," Luke called. "We're looking for some people."

Ronan paused at the door but didn't turn around. He sighed silently. He knew they were looking for Lee, and even though they seemed like good men, he wasn't sure he should take them to him. After what happened, there might be some bad blood between the two groups. Then again, he didn't know exactly what happened. Maybe he should hear them out.

He half turned toward them and looked at them critically. "Oh yeah? Friends of yours?" he asked coolly, wanting to gauge their reactions to his questions.

"Well…" Luke said, glancing at Pete who looked the other way uncomfortably. "I wouldn't exactly call them friends."

Ronan narrowed his eyes at them, knowing that was just making them even more uncomfortable, but he wanted to make absolutely sure they weren't going to cause problems with his new friends before he admitted to knowing them. Getting people to show their true colors just by facial expression was something he had learned in interrogation. "What would you call them then?"

"More like acquaintances," Pete answered.

"They stayed with us for a while. But then…" Luke trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"Then?" Ronan prompted.

Luke sighed. "Let's just say we had a difference of opinion about something, and the rest of our group decided that it was best for everyone that they leave. I didn't agree with that."

"Neither did I, but I'm getting the feeling you know this already," Pete said, eyeing Ronan critically.

Ronan's eyes swept between the two men in front of him before his face broke into a small smile. "You're talking about Kenny, Lee, Cassie, and Clementine," he said.

"So, you have met them," Luke said.

"Yeah," Ronan replied with a nod, "they're the friends I need to get back to. And you must be the people Lee was with when he was bitten. The ones who kicked him out." He remembered Lee telling the others about it. He had gotten there just in time to hear that little piece of information just before Lilly tried to kill Lee.

Luke nodded guiltily. "Can you take us to them? We just want to make sure they're ok."

Ronan wasn't sure yet if he should bring them to Lee and the others. He knew Kenny would probably be pissed about it. Judging from what he saw when Kenny first arrived, the man can get pretty angry pretty quickly. He didn't think Lee would be too upset though, and Lee could handle any outbursts Kenny might exhibit. Or Cassie could. Besides, he needed to get to that pharmacy and he could use all the help he could get.

"Alright, look, they're at the pharmacy, and I'm a little worried they haven't come back yet. I could use some help getting in there," Ronan said.

"Yeah, sure. We can do that," Luke replied willingly.

"Lead the way," Pete said with a nod.

The three men exited the shop and started making their way down the street toward the pharmacy. They stopped just shy of the group of walkers out front and hunkered down in an alley nearby so they could assess the situation.

"Ok, so how do we get in there?" Pete asked.

"I'm not sure," Ronan replied contemplatively.

"How did the others get in?" Luke asked curiously.

"That was a combination of Molotov cocktails, firecrackers, and a pipe bomb. Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of those," Ronan said.

"Great," Luke said sarcastically.

Ronan stared at the pharmacy with a critical eye. It wasn't a very big building, and it had large front windows and the front door was glass also. It really didn't look very secure, and yet it has been the hardest building to get into so far. Of course, that was mostly because of the walkers that seemed to gather around it like moths to a flame. But there had to another way in besides the front door.

"Let's loop around back," he suggested. "Maybe there's a back door or something."

The other two readily agreed and using alleyways and back streets, they managed to make their way around to the back of the building without too much trouble. Of course, when they got there, they found a few more walkers wandering around, but not as much as in front.

"Let's take them," Luke said as he unsheathed his machete.

"I'm with you on that," Pete said, raising his crossbow.

Ronan pulled a knife from his belt and nodded to the others. Together, they quickly and quietly dispatched with the few walkers in the area, leaving the way to the pharmacy clear. Putting his knife back in his belt, Ronan approached the door in back, which looked like it could have been a service door. He tried the knob but was dismayed to find it was locked.

"Dammit," Ronan huffed, slapping his hand against the door in frustration.

"Don't go in there."

All three men spun around toward the new voice to see a man with jet black hair that was sticking up at odd angles standing before them. His clothes were rumpled and his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them. It looked like he hadn't slept in days. He looked completely disheveled, but the look on his face was deadly serious.

"Who are you?" Luke asked cautiously.

"Please, don't go in there," he repeated, ignoring Luke's question.

"Why not?" Ronan asked.

"It's a trap," he whispered conspiratorially as if he were afraid of being overheard. "It's a trap. Anyone who goes in doesn't come out. So please, stay away."

"What exactly are you talking about?" Luke asked calmly. He didn't want to spook this guy if he had information they needed to know.

The man took a deep breath and rubbed his face with both hands as he tried to pull himself together. "Ok, ok. My name is Max Hooper. I used to work here. Not in the pharmacy but in the lab underneath. My lab partner, Kieran, went crazy, started doing experiments on the dead. He figured out how to manipulate the DNA, how to create what he calls his 'special infected'. He uses the pharmacy to lure people in, and then he takes them and turns them into monsters. I'm sure you've already seen a few of his creations."

Ronan nodded grimly as he thought about the hunters roaming the city. It would certainly explain why they had never seen any until they arrived here. He couldn't believe someone was creating those things on purpose. It was sick.

"Yeah, I thought so," Max continued. He sighed as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "I tried to stop him, to talk some sense into him, but he wouldn't listen. He eventually kicked me out. I've been trying to keep an eye on this place ever since. I try to warn people not to go in any chance I get, but I can't keep watch 24/7. And a lot of the times the people I do manage to talk to don't listen." He looked at them pleadingly. "So please, I'm begging you. Don't go in."

Ronan looked thoughtful as he first glanced at Pete and then Luke. Neither one of them looked like they were willing to leave despite the supposed danger ahead. And neither was Ronan. He shook his head and took a step forward. "Look, I appreciate the warning, I do, but I could give a rat's ass about some mad scientist gone off the deep end. I got friends in there, and I'll be damned if I'm walking away until I know for sure what's happened to them."

Max looked at him forlornly. "I'm sorry about your people, but if they went in, they're most likely dead or wishing they were. You can't help them."

"The hell I can't," Ronan said roughly. "I'm not giving up on them. Now either you show us a way in or get the hell out of the way." He paused as he stared into Max's wide eyes. "So, what's it going to be? Are you going to do something, or are you going to continue to stand around and watch people disappear?"

Max's face pinched in anger. "Hey, I'm trying my best here," he snapped derisively. "I try to keep people from going in. I tried to stop this from happening in the first place."

"Evidently, not hard enough," Ronan replied.

"What did you want me to do? Kill him?" Max huffed, turning away from Ronan and throwing his arms out.

"If that's what takes," Ronan said with a slight sigh. He hated even the thought of killing a living, breathing person, but if that's what it took to protect the people you care about, then so be it.

"Ronan," Luke objected, clearly not liking the idea of killing somebody.

"What?" Ronan said in agitation, turning toward Luke. "I don't like it either, but the man is turning people into monsters. He has to be stopped one way or the other."

"You don't understand," Max said sadly, turning away from them. "Kieran was my friend before all this. I know he has to be stopped, and I know that probably the only way to do that is to kill him. But I can't do it. Despite all that he's done, I can't kill my friend."

"You don't have to," Ronan said. Max looked at him with sorrowful eyes and sighed. Ronan took a step toward him. "Just get us in there. We'll handle the rest."

Max put his fist over his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut as if he were battling some inner turmoil. It was a minute or two before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Staring down at the innocuous pieces of metal on a ring, he shook his head. "I can't believe I kept these," he said as he made his way toward the back door. He stopped and looked straight at Ronan. "I hope you know what you're doing," he said, before sticking a key in the lock and opening the door.

With a nod of thanks, Ronan entered first. He stopped just inside and looked around the store, feeling almost disappointed. He supposed he was expecting to see a mess, signs of a struggle maybe, something to indicate what might have happened to his friends. But there was nothing. Just a bunch meds on shelves. Normally, that alone would be a good thing, but he couldn't care less about the meds right now. He just wanted to find his friends. He walked around the entire store but found nothing but a dead hunter near the back.

"What the hell is that thing?" Pete asked, staring down at the dead body in disgust.

"That is one of Kieran's experiments," Max replied, stepping up next to him.

"We call them hunters," Ronan stated. He looked at Luke and Pete. "Stick around here long enough, you'll see more of them. Nasty fuckers."

"C'mon. The entrance to the lab is this way," Max said, leading them into the back room. He walked to the back of the room, reached behind a shelf against the wall, and pulled a lever. The shelf shifted to the right, revealing a hidden door with an electronic hand scanner next to it. "You never would have gotten in here without me. Not unless Kieran wanted you to," he said as he placed his hand on the scanner. There was a soft humming sound, and then the door opened.

"Thank you," Ronan said gratefully.

"Don't thank me yet."

"I'm surprised this place still has power," Luke commented.

"The lab is equipped with two huge generators and a pretty big supply of gas in case of emergency. Power was never an issue," Max explained, stepping to the side to allow the other men to go ahead of him. Clearly, he still had some reservations about going down there himself.

Ronan stepped up to the opened doorway and pulled out his gun. He didn't know what he was walking into, and he wanted to be ready for anything.

* * *

Kenny sat against the wall, trying to breathe through the fiery agony in his side. He could swear that this hurt worse than when he got shot, but maybe that was just in his head. The lacerations in his side did hurt like a bitch though.

He looked up at the situation unfolding and knew things were not looking good. Kyle was standing at the bottom of the stairs, clearly at a loss as to what to do since their only way out was locked tight. Reggie was crouched next to Kenny helping to keep pressure on his wound. He would have to thank her for that later. And then there was Lee, who was valiantly sweeping the flashlight back and forth, trying to keep those monsters at bay, but Kenny could tell when Lee glanced back at him that he didn't hold out much hope of them getting out of this alive this time. And unfortunately, as Kenny looked down at his still bleeding wound, he had to agree. This just might be it for them.

Kenny looked back at Lee and his breath caught in his throat when he saw a hulking shadow start to charge Lee when he moved the light in the other direction. But before he could shout a warning, the door at the top of the stairs suddenly opened, sending a shaft of light down the stairs, encompassing the entire group and sending the charging volatile retreating back into the darkness.

"No fucking way," Kenny said in disbelief as he watched Ronan, Luke, and Pete descending the stairs. They were probably the people he least expected to see at that point. Ronan, maybe, if he managed to get free, but Luke and Pete? No way.

"Kyle!" Ronan called.

"Ronan, man, am I glad to see you," Kyle said in relief.

"Yeah, me too. Is everyone alright?"

"No, not even close," Reggie replied as she stood up, unconsciously wiping the blood off her hands on her jeans. "Kenny's hurt, and there are things in here trying to eat us. We need to get the fuck out of here now."

"Wait a minute. Where is everyone else?" Ronan asked.

"Michelle is dead, and some psycho took everyone else. But one thing at a time. We need to get out of here first," Lee replied as he knelt down next to Kenny. "Can you move?"

Kenny nodded and started to shift forward so he could stand up. Pain flared in his side and he paused, waiting for it to subside. He winced and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt Lee grip his right arm tightly and then he felt another set of hands on his other side. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Luke crouched next to him. "What the hell are you doing here?" he growled.

"Looks to me like I'm saving your ass," Luke replied.

"I don't need your help," Kenny retorted, wrenching his arm from Luke's grasp. He did, however, allow Lee to help him to his feet and up the stairs.

Once they made it up the stairs and through the door, Max slammed the door shut and leaned against it with a sigh. Kenny lurched himself toward the island in the middle of the room and leaned against it, waving away Lee's concern with an assurance that he was alright. The physical pain was nothing compared to the ache in his heart at having to stand there and watch while some mad scientist carted away Cassie and Clementine to be a part of his insane experiments. He hoped to god that asshole didn't hurt them or worse. He didn't think he could stand it if he lost them.

Rubbing a hand across his face, Kenny noticed an unfamiliar face amongst the group. "Who the hell is that?" he asked.

"That's Max. He helped us get in here," Ronan replied.

"Max," Lee said, turning toward the man. "As in Max Hooper? Kieran's lab partner?"

Max looked at Lee nervously. "Um, y-yes."

Kenny zeroed in on Max, seeing him as a means to reach his girlfriend before she was turned into a monster. He stalked toward the man and grabbed him by the shirt, nearly lifting him off the ground. "Where would that asshole take our friends? Tell me!"

"Whoa, Kenny, back off," Luke said, pulling Kenny off and leaving Max to cower in a corner looking like a deer caught in headlights. "He's intimidated enough. You don't need to strong-arm him."

"You stay out of this! You're not a part of this!" Kenny yelled at Luke angrily.

"Well, it looks like I am now," Luke said forcefully. Then he sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened before. I didn't agree with that."

"But you didn't stop it either," Kenny growled.

"I did the best I could."

"We tried to get them to see things your way," Pete spoke up, taking a step forward. "But we couldn't force them to let you stay. And for the record, it was Luke's idea to come out this way. He wanted to make sure y'all were ok. That's gotta count for something."

Lee sighed. "Yeah, it does," he said quietly. He looked at his best friend. "Ken, c'mon, man. It's not their fault. Just let it go."

Kenny's eyes shifted from Luke to Pete and back again. He was still royally pissed about what they did, but truthfully, that's not what this was about. No, right now, he was more pissed about what had just happened down in that lab, and he needed to vent. Luke just happened to be a convenient target. He let out an explosive sigh and turned around.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he screamed, slamming his fists against the wall behind him, wincing as the movement pulled at his wound some. He leaned his head against the wall breathing heavily. Everyone else was silent after his little outburst, but he didn't much care. He was so worried about the girls he couldn't even think straight.

"Alright. Everyone just calm down," Ronan said calmly. "It's obvious you guys have some issues, but work them out later. Right now, we need to figure out our next move."

Kenny scoffed as he turned to look at Ronan, one arm still leaning against the wall. "What's to figure out? We find that son of a bitch, and we get our people back. End of story."

"No," Lee said, shaking his head. "Ronan's right. We need to get back to the hotel and regroup. Then figure out a plan. We can't just go rushing in there. Besides, you need medical attention."

"Lee, I'm fine," Kenny said shortly, waving away his concern.

"You are not fine. You're bleeding all over the place," Lee said forcefully.

Kenny looked down and saw the very large red stain on his shirt and part of jeans. He hadn't realized he had lost so much blood. He put his hand over the wound, really starting to feel the throbbing pain in his side that had previously been masked by his anger. He leaned more heavily on the wall with a grunt, suddenly feeling the need to sit down, but he fought back the urge because he knew if he sat down now, he wouldn't be able to get back up. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Lee standing next to him.

"Hey, it's ok, Ken. We'll get them back, but let's take care of you first."

"Yeah, ok, pal," Kenny said tiredly.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – Deciding What to Do

Cassie awoke slowly, sensation returning to her a piece at a time, first and foremost being that she was laying on a hard metal surface. She opened her eyes, blinking several times in the harsh light. She found herself staring at a stark white ceiling, and she wondered where the hell she was. She tried to move but discovered hard, leather restraints on her wrists and ankles. What the…? She thought fuzzily until she realized she was strapped to a gurney. Clementine and Deacon were retrained the same way on either side of her.

She remembered with trepidation Kieran taking Clementine hostage in order to force her and Deacon to go with him. That psycho had brought them here to do his experiments, but where the hell was she? She remembered going through some sort of sewer tunnel and then up a ladder into what looked like a basement. Then she felt the prick of a needle in the back of her neck, and then everything went hazy. That bastard must have drugged her with something.

She took a good look at her surroundings. It appeared that they were at the head of a long, wide corridor. Lining each side of the corridor were about five or six white doors aligned perfect with each other. Each door had a small window in them, making it easy for someone to peek in or out, and there was another door at the other end of the corridor. There was also a single door nearest to them on the left side. There was nothing to indicate where they were though.

She looked over at Clementine, who seemed to still be unconscious. "Clementine," she called, her voice sounding hoarse. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Clem, wake up."

Clementine moaned as her eyes opened slightly. Then her eyes popped open fully and she looked at Cassie in alarm. "Cassie? Where are we?"

"Not sure," Cassie replied. "But it's going to be ok. We'll figure a way out of here."

"Oh yeah?" Deacon said groggily from Cassie's other side. "And how do you plan to do that?" He pulled at the restraints on his wrists experimentally.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking."

Kieran breezed into the room through the door nearest them and stopped next to Deacon. "Ah, you're awake. I'm almost ready to start my experiments. You should be honored to be a part of it."

"Oh yeah. I can't wait to become some undead creature," Deacon said sarcastically.

Kieran leaned right down next to him. "And why wouldn't you be? At least then you won't have any more worries." He flashed him a quick smile before standing up straight and clapping his hands together. "Well, let me explain what I have planned for you. I think you should know what you'll become." He looked down at Deacon once again. "You will become what I call a smoker. You will be the first zombie to attack from a distance. You will have a wicked tongue. It will be long enough to reach great distances and strong enough to wrap around someone and pull them in toward you."

Deacon stared at him for a minute before he spoke. "Why do you call it a smoker?"

Cassie would have face-palmed herself if she could have. What kind of question was that?

Kieran's brow furrowed in anger as he grabbed Deacon by the shirt and pulled him up off the gurney. "What do you mean? Why do people call you Deacon? That's just your name, isn't it? Well, that's just what it's called." His words spilled out in quick succession before he slammed Deacon back down on the gurney and turned away.

"Ow," Deacon grunted as his head bounced painfully off the metal surface he was lying on.

"Deacon, don't provoke him," Cassie whispered harshly.

"I only asked a question," Deacon said defensively.

"Well, don't do that either. It was a stupid question anyway. I mean, really, all things he just told you and that's the question you ask?"

Kieran turned toward them, all smiles again. "Now, where was I?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "Oh yes. You, little missy," he said as he moved around to stand at Clementine's side, "will be what I call a screamer. It has to be a child, you see. That's why I needed you. First, you will sound like an innocent child crying, but then when someone gets close to you, you will emit this loud, painful scream that will disorient anyone who hears it. Not only that, but it will draw every zombie within a mile radius straight to you."

Clementine looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"Because it's fun," Kieran replied with a grin that made Clementine shudder. He then turned his attention to Cassie. "And last but not least, you, Cassie, will be what I call a witch. Much like the screamer, you will seem innocent at first, just a woman crying or moaning or what have you, but you will also be easily agitated. And when disturbed, you will chase after the first person you see. You will run them down, and you will attack them until either they are dead or you are. And because of that, I've modified the witch's DNA specifically to make her rather hard to kill. Can't have people gaining up on her before she has a chance to do some damage. Unfortunately, you will not be the first witch I've created. I do have one here already, but there seems to have been a flaw in the formula. She didn't turn out quite as I expected. Hopefully, you will be a better version."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Cassie whispered to herself.

Luckily, Kieran didn't seem to hear her sarcastic comment as he turned away from her. "Well now, I've got to go get things ready. I'll be back soon." And he disappeared through the same door he just came in from.

Cassie renew her struggles. "Ok, we so need to get out of here."

Deacon agreed with that sentiment as he began pulling at the restraint on his right wrist with all his might. After a few moments, the leather strap broke free from the table. He smirked at Cassie as he sat up. "Way ahead of you," he said as he started undoing the strap on his other wrist.

Cassie smiled. "Deacon, I take back all the things I said about you."

"You should," he replied as he started in on the ankle restraints.

"Hurry, Deacon. Please," Clementine begged.

"I'm working on it," he grunted.

Once free from the restraints, he hopped down from the gurney and went to work on freeing one of Cassie's wrists. As he was fumbling with the strap, he gasped and suddenly went still, his eyes wide. Cassie looked up at him inquiringly. With a grimace, he reached behind his neck and pulled out an empty syringe. He stared at it as he began to sway.

"Oh shit," he mumbled as he collapsed to the ground.

"Deacon!" Clementine cried.

"No!" Cassie yelled. She looked down at Deacon's unconscious form before her eyes met with Kieran standing where Deacon had been.

He smiled and looked down at Deacon. "Guess you'll be the first," he said cheerily, unfazed by the fact that Deacon had just tried to escape. He walked around the unconscious man, grabbed him by the wrists, and started dragging him away.

"Kieran, don't do this!" Cassie begged.

Kieran paused. "Oh, don't worry. I'll be back for you shortly," he said and continued dragging Deacon through the door.

Cassie sighed explosively as she once again tried to get free. The one wrist that Deacon had been trying to undo felt slightly loosened but not quite enough for her to get her hand through, not without a little coaxing anyway. She might have to resign herself to the fact that they might not get out of there alive.

* * *

Lee stood leaning his elbows on the desk in front of him, his hands cupped together in front of his mouth as he stared straight ahead, his mind in turmoil. It had been about an hour since they had returned to the hotel, and Lee was worried about what was happening with Cassie, Deacon, and Clementine. Letting that madman take them and then leaving them there instead of going after them right then and there was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. But he knew they were not ready to go after him then. Hell, they weren't even ready now.

He could still see the absolute terror on Clementine's face as she looked at him, silently pleading him to help her, and he had just stood there and watched. He didn't help her. He should have helped her. He mentally shook his head. No, he couldn't have helped her. If he had moved even an inch, that madman would have killed her right then and there. Better that he let her go so he could have the chance to save her later. Now all he had to do was figure out where he would have taken her and the others. But that was the problem, he had no idea where he could have taken them. The lab was out of the question with those volatiles now occupying the space. Kieran may have created them, but Lee didn't think he had any control over them. So where would he take them? Another lab? A medical facility perhaps?

He rubbed a hand across his face in frustration. He was getting no place fast. With a sigh, he looked over his shoulder at the people that were scattered throughout the lobby in small groups. He wasn't really surprised when they found the rest of the group from the cabin at the hotel with John when they got back. When they caught sight of Lee, he could tell that they felt guilty, but none of them seemed to want to talk about it. And Kenny was still angry at them, so tensions were running high, and nobody was talking.

Then chaos had ensued as John took Kenny away to tend to his wound and everyone else started firing off questions about what had happened. Lee and Kyle had explained about what had happened as best they could, and now no one knew quite what to do.

Lee turned around and leaned back against the desk. He felt Ronan come up next to him.

"Hey, Lee," he said solemnly.

"Hey," Lee replied. He glanced over at him. "How are the ribs?"

"Sore," Ronan replied, placing his arm across his midsection as if just talking about them made them ache. "Your doctor friend, Carlos? He took a look and said that I definitely broke some, but it's not too serious."

"Good," Lee said as he looked straight ahead in contemplation.

"Listen, Lee. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened. I just can't help but think that if I had kept Clementine with me, she wouldn't have been taken."

Lee looked at him and saw the guilt all over his face. "It's ok," he reassured. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known. You thought she would have been safer with us. With me. Normally, that would have been a safe assumption." He looked away again, feeling his own guilt rising.

"It's not your fault either," Ronan said.

"I'm supposed to protect her, and she got taken right out from under me."

"Hey, we'll get her back," Ronan said, placing a hand on Lee's shoulder. "We just have to figure out how. Do you think he's still at the lab?"

"No," Lee replied with a shake of his head. "Not with those volatiles running loose. He may have created them, but I don't think he has any control over them." He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Ok, he must have had a place in mind when he set those things loose on us."

"Questions is, where would he have taken them?" Ronan inquired.

"I don't know," Lee replied. His eyes roved around the room and zeroed in on Max, who was sitting by himself on one of the red couches. "But I think I know just who to ask." He strode purposefully toward the scientist with Ronan right behind him. "Max, is there another way out of the lab besides the door that leads to the pharmacy?"

They didn't actually see Kieran leave the lab, and even though Lee believed that he wouldn't still be there, he had to make sure. Kieran had disappeared through a door near the back of the lab, furthest away from the entrance. He wouldn't have just boxed himself in. He was crazy, not stupid. So there had to be another way out.

Max looked up at him sadly, and it was a minute before he realized that Lee had asked a question. "Um, yeah. There's a secret entrance that leads into the sewers."

"A secret entrance?"

Lee looked over his shoulder upon hearing Luke's voice to see that everyone else had gathered around them, looking on curiously.

"That's just great. He could be anywhere in the entire city by now," Nick scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Not necessarily," Lee said thoughtfully. "For what he's planning to do, he can't just do it anywhere. He would need some sort of medical facility or a science lab, right?" He looked back at Max. "Max, how well do you know the city?"

"Um, pretty well, I guess. I've lived here for ten years."

"Then, think. Where would Kieran have taken our friends?"

Max sighed and lowered his eyes to the floor. "What will you do?" he asked quietly.

"What you can't," Ronan replied.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Luke objected, taking a step forward. "You're talking about killing him."

"So, what?" Nick said, crossing his arms. "From what I hear, this guy needs to be stopped at all costs. Hell, I'll kill him myself."

"That shouldn't be our only option," Luke argued.

"Luke, I know where you're coming from, but sometimes that is our only option," Pete said with a sigh.

"What if we talk to him? If we can get him to see reason…" Luke protested.

"No," Lee said with a shake of his head. "You didn't see him. The way he acted, the things he said, the look in his eyes, he's completely insane. You can't reason with someone like that."

"Luke, I know you don't like the idea of killing someone. I don't either, but sometimes it's what you have to do in order to protect the people you care about," Ronan said. He sighed when he saw the turmoil on the young man's face. "Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been put into a position where you had no choice but to kill someone in order to save a life?" When Luke shook his head, he continued. "No, I didn't think so. I was a cop. I was put into that position long before any of this, and I know it's not easy. But I'm glad I made the choice that I did because if I hadn't, an innocent person would have lost their life, and I couldn't have lived with that."

Luke sighed. "Alright, I get it. I still don't like it."

"None of us do," Ronan replied. He looked at Max. "Max, where is he? I know you know."

Max took a deep, steady breath. "Northbrook Asylum," he answered unequivocally.

"A mental institution?" Luke said, looking doubtful.

"No, it's perfect," Kyle said. "Not only would that place have med facilities and possibly even a science lab, but it would also have locked cells, someplace he could put his special infected until he's ready to set them loose on the city."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Lee said. He turned his attention back to Max. "You're positive about this?"

Max nodded. "I saw Kieran leaving through the secret entrance one day and decided to follow him. That's how I discovered what he was doing."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

They all spun around in surprise to see Kenny standing behind them, one arm splayed across his stomach. John was standing behind him, shaking his head and looking annoyed.

"Kenny!" Lee exclaimed. "What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be resting?" he said as he walked towards him.

"That's what I keep telling him, but he won't listen to me," John said, crossing his arms.

"I ain't just gonna lie around while Cassie and Clementine are in the hands of some asshole with a god complex," he said over his shoulder to the annoyed doctor. He turned back to Lee. "If you're going after them, I'm going too."

Lee nodded. He knew he couldn't stop the other man from coming with. Kenny loved Cassie too much, and he cared about Clementine almost as much as Lee. "Alright, looks like we've got a rescue mission to plan," Lee addressed the assembled group. "We need all the help we can get. Who's coming?"

"I am," Ronan said with determination. "Clementine was my responsibility. I shouldn't have let her go. It's my fault she was taken and I want to help get her and the others back."

"Well, I'm definitely going," Kyle said, taking a step forward. "Deacon may be an asshole, but he's still a part of my group. I'm not going to let him or the girls get turned into monsters."

"I'll go too. Someone's gotta watch your back," Reggie said with a wink at Kyle, who smiled and put an arm around her shoulders.

"We'll go too," Luke said.

"All three of us," Pete added, looking at Nick and Luke.

"Yeah, uh," Nick said awkwardly, absently scratching the back of his head. "It's the least we can do after the way we treated you back at the cabin."

Lee looked back at Kenny, uncertain. He didn't have a problem with them coming. They could use the extra help, but he knew Kenny would have a problem with it. And the last thing they needed was friction amongst the group that would interfere with getting Cassie, Clementine, and Deacon back. Kenny looked Lee in the eye and then huffed, turning away. But he didn't argue, which Lee interpreted as his grudging consent.

"Alright," Lee said, turning back to the three men. "We welcome the help."

"What about you, Max?" Ronan asked. "You coming along?"

The jittery scientist looked up at him with wide eyes. His eyes began to shift back and forth from one person to another nervously. He started to fidget as he stood there shaking his head. "No, I-I can't. I mean…I would be of no use to you. I would just…get in the way. So, I can't." He slowly backed away, then ran through the ballroom doors, disappearing from sight.

"I think that guy's got a screw loose or something," Kenny commented.

"He's just scared," Ronan said.

"Alright. The rest of you should stay here and be ready in case we need any help when we get back," Lee said.

"No arguments here," Rebecca said as she sat down on one of the circular couches with a relieved sigh. "This place is kind of nice."

"Yeah, a lot better than that cabin," Alvin agreed as he sat down next to his wife.

"I'll show you where you can lay down in a minute if you want," John said as he walked by the couple. He tapped Carlos on the shoulder and beckoned him to follow him. "Come on. We should get things set up in case they need medical attention when they get back."

"I'll be there in a minute," Carlos replied as he turned toward his daughter. "Sarah, sweetie, I want you to stay here with Rebecca and Alvin, ok?"

"Yeah, ok, Dad," Sarah agreed readily.

Carlos watched his daughter sit down on one of the other couches, open her book—which was the only thing she insisted on taking with her when they left the cabin—and start reading. He then looked over at the group assembled by the door getting ready to leave. With a deep breath, he walked over to Lee.

"Lee?"

"Yeah?" Lee asked, turning toward the doctor.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for kicking you out before. I was wrong. You are immune, and I should have given you the chance to prove that."

Lee held up a hand to stop any further apologies. "It's ok. I get it. You were looking out for your own people. Nothing wrong with that."

"Yes, but…I didn't have to be so harsh about it," Carlos replied.

"Forget it. Try to focus on what's going on now."

Carlos nodded and walked away. After Carlos was out of earshot, Kenny stepped up next to Lee and shook his head.

"You know, Lee. Sometimes, you're too trusting for your own good. How could you just forgive him that easily?" Kenny said.

"Because he's no different than you or me. He's just looking out for his people. You know what that's like," Lee reasoned. Kenny snorted, and Lee turned to look at him. "C'mon, Ken. What would you have done in his place?" Kenny looked away, but Lee persisted. "If you had just met me, and you found out I was bitten. And I tried to tell you that I was immune, that I wasn't going to turn. What would you have done?"

Kenny humphed, refusing to meet Lee's eyes because he knew what he would have done. If it hadn't been Lee, if it had been some stranger who walked up to him with a bite and told him that he wasn't going to turn, Kenny knew exactly what he would have done. He would have kicked him out or left him there, gotten as far away from the man as possible to protect the people he cared about. But he certainly didn't want to admit that.

But Lee knew. He knew exactly what Kenny would have done. "You would have done the same thing, and you know it."

Kenny glowered at him. "Let's just get going," he said as he turned and walked away.

Lee shook his head as he followed him. Yes, after all this time, he knew Kenny too well.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – The Asylum

Getting to the asylum had been unexpectedly easy. After making a quick stop at the gun store to gather any supplies they might need on this trip, two duffel bags full to be precise, they found a manhole cover leading to the sewers as close to the pharmacy as they could get. Lee figured that if Kieran had been using the sewers to travel back and forth between the pharmacy and the asylum, then that section of the sewers at least had to be clear of walkers. And he was right because in no time at all they had reached their destination without any problems.

Lee climbed out the manhole near the asylum first, hauling one of the duffel bags with him. He kept his eyes peeled for any walkers that could be lingering nearby as he waited for the others to climb out one by one. Then they walked toward the large iron gate that stood in front of the huge stone building that loomed before them. Lee gripped one of bars of the gate tightly as he stared up at the daunting structure. The place was massive, and Clementine, Cassie, and Deacon could be anywhere in there. For a fleeting moment, Lee wasn't sure they would be able to find them in time.

"Are we ready for this?" Luke asked.

"I know I am," Nick said as he hefted his rifle in his hands.

"It's now or never, I guess," Pete replied.

Kenny stepped up next to Lee and looked up at the building with determination in his eyes. "Yeah. Lee?" He looked at his best friend questioningly.

Lee took a deep breath and pushed away any doubts he had. He couldn't afford to be doubtful right now. "Let's go," he said with as much confidence as he could muster as he pushed open the heavy iron gate with a loud creak of its rusty hinges.

They walked into a large foyer with chairs and end tables lining the walls on either side. Of course, most of the chairs and tables were overturned or broken, and there were a couple of large potted plants intermingled in there that had long since withered and died. It looked like this could have been a waiting room of sorts back when the asylum was still in operation.

Lee walked across the checkerboard linoleum floor that was covered with dirt and grime and came upon a large oak desk which was presumably where patients and visitors would check in. It looked like there were still patient files sitting on the desk covered in a layer of dust. He stopped in front of the desk, and the first thing he noticed as he looked around was that the lights were on.

"Huh," Lee said thoughtfully. "Looks like this place has a generator too."

"Well ain't that interesting?" Kenny said sardonically. "Funny how we've run into three places with generators since we got here when we haven't run into a single place that had power since the motor inn."

"Yeah, but when was the last time we were in a major city?" Lee asked.

"Savannah," Kenny stated.

"Savannah was small compared to this city."

"So, what now?" Nick inquired.

"We look for the others, Einstein," Kenny said acerbically and received an angry glare from Nick, which he ignored as he started to turn down the nearest hallway.

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute," Kyle objected. "This place is huge. It'll take all day to search a place this big."

"Which is why we shouldn't be wasting time standing here. Now let's go," Kenny urged impatiently.

"Well, hold on a minute," Reggie spoke up. She turned to Kyle. "What do you have in mind?"

"Check it," Kyle said as he pointed up at a camera mounted on the wall nearby. "This place has security cameras. All we have to do is find the security office and check out the security monitors. It'll be easier to find them rather than traipsing around this dusty old hospital."

"We don't even know where the security office is. Like you said, it could take all day to search the place. I'd rather spend that time searching for Cassie and Clementine," Kenny pointed out.

"And Deacon. You seem to keep forgetting about him," Kyle said. Deacon may not be one of Kyle's favorite people, but he was still a part of the group. And no matter what kind of person Deacon was, he didn't deserve to be turned into a monster. No one did.

Kenny rolled his eyes. He couldn't care less about that asshole, but he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. "Fine. And Deacon."

"I don't know. Kyle's plan makes sense to me," Ronan said. "At least we'd know what we were looking for, and there will probably be signs pointing us in the right direction."

"How do you even know the cameras are working?" Kenny asked.

"That one is," Kyle said, indicating the red light on the camera just below the lens.

Kenny looked up at the camera and shook his head, still unwilling to give in. "Take a look around. This place is in shambles. What makes you think the rest of the cameras will be working?"

"It's at least worth a look, don't you think?" Luke said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation.

"No, I don't think," Kenny retorted.

"Alright, everyone just calm down," Lee interjected, stepping in between Kenny and Kyle. In the silence that followed, Lee sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. He really didn't need this shit, but he had to deal with it or they were going to get nowhere. "Now look, Kyle, why don't you and Reggie go look for the security office? The rest of us will start looking for Cassie, Clementine, and Deacon. Fair enough?"

"Alright. I can get behind that," Kenny agreed.

"Yeah. Sounds good to me," Kyle said with a nod.

"Ok. You find the security office first, let us know what you see," Lee said.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Reggie asked.

"No sweat," Kyle said nonchalantly, giving her a gentle swat on the arm. He indicated with a nod of his head toward the speaker on the wall above the desk. "This place has an intercom system as well." He looked back at Lee. "We'll let you know what we find."

"You sure you can get that to work?" Lee inquired.

"Hey, I'm a computer genius. All I have to do is hack into the system. Shouldn't be too hard."

"Be careful," Lee said.

"Yeah, you too." With a confident smirk, Kyle hefted one of the two duffel bags of supplies they brought in one hand, and he and Reggie turned and headed down one hallway while the rest of the group walked down the hall on the opposite side.

As they were walking, Nick quickened his pace to catch up with Luke. "Hey Luke. Think we'll find them?" he asked with a touch of concern.

Luke sighed despondently. "I don't know. I hope so. They wouldn't have been put in this situation if we hadn't kicked them out."

"Actually, if you think about it, they would have come here anyway," Pete said from behind them. "They just would have been with us. Remember, we came here just after they did because Carver found us. Them staying with us wouldn't have changed that. We probably still would have met up with those folks at the hotel too. I don't know much about how they got into this situation, but something tells me we all would have been involved regardless. This ain't your fault, son. None of us are to blame."

"Well, it sure feels like it," Nick said and Luke nodded in agreement.

"Pete's right," Lee commented from the front of the group, having overheard the conversation. "It's not your fault. And anyway, you're here with us now trying to get them back. That's what matters."

"Thanks, Lee," Luke said sincerely.

The moved swiftly down the hallway, checking every door they came across, but every door seemed to be locked which was making Kenny very frustrated. If every door in this damn place was locked, they were never going to find Cassie and Clementine. Fearing that the girls might be in one of the rooms they had already passed, Kenny decided that he would check one more door and then backtrack and start kicking in doors. They didn't look that solid. So, he reached for the doorknob of the very next door and turned, expecting it to be locked just like all others before. So, he was surprised when the doorknob turned easily in his hand.

"I'll be damned. It's fucking open," Kenny stated.

"It's about damn time. Now we can actually get somewhere," Nick said.

Lee wasn't so sure about this however. He was wondering why this one door was open when all the doors before it were locked. But then again there were plenty of other doors they hadn't gotten to yet. Maybe there were more unlocked doors and this was just the first one they found. Maybe he was just overthinking things. Nevertheless, he took out his gun just in case and saw everyone else do the same. They weren't taking any chances.

They entered the room beyond, which seemed to be a short, wide hallway. There were several doors that lined both sides of the hall, all evenly spaced out and all had a small square window in the top, and there was one door at the end of the hall. Lee walked up to one of the doors and peered through the window. The room beyond was a small padded cell. The once pristine white walls were now a dingy yellow. Lee turned back to the others, shook his head, and indicated that they should keep moving.

As they neared the door at the end of the hall, one of the cell doors on the left side nearest to where Lee and Ronan were suddenly opened with a metallic click. Immediately the sound of a woman crying could be heard from inside. They all stopped and stared at the door with varying degrees of confusion and suspicion.

"What the hell?" Kenny said.

"Stay here," Lee said and then motioned for Ronan to follow him.

The two men slowly approached the partially open door. With his gun raised, Lee gently nudged the door all the way open. Inside a woman sat on the floor with her back to them rocking slightly back and forth. Lee and Ronan looked at each other. Ronan stepped forward.

"Hello? Miss?" he said gently, but she continued to cry as if they weren't even there.

Lee hung back and took a closer look at the woman. She had long, straight brown hair that cascaded down to the middle of her back. She was wearing a tattered black coat and torn blue jeans. Lee's eyes widened. Wait a minute. That looks like… "Lilly?" he said aloud.

"What?" Ronan cried, looking back at Lee. "What would she be doing here?"

At Ronan's surprised shout, the woman began to make these very agitated grunting noises that increased in intensity. They sounded so inhuman that Lee feared that even if this was Lilly, she wouldn't be the same person she was. Hell, she probably wasn't even a person at all anymore if she was here in this place.

"Ronan, get away from her," Lee said cautiously, but it was too late.

As Ronan turned back toward her, she suddenly whipped her head around towards him. Now, seeing her face, Lee could tell it was Lilly, or it used to be. Now her skin was gray like that of a corpse. Her eyes were so red they almost glowed, and strands of her straggly, unkempt hair hung in her face. She let out an ear-piercing scream and slashed at Ronan with elongated, talon-like fingers. With lightning reflexes, Ronan scrambled backwards out of her reach. The tips of her nails tore through his shirt but didn't draw blood. Managing to retain his footing, Ronan turned and ran out into the hallway with Lilly right on his heels.

"What the fuck?" Luke cried in surprise as Ronan ran past him.

"What the hell is that thing?" Nick asked.

"Who the fuck cares? Just shook it!" Kenny yelled as he pulled out his gun and started shooting.

The others followed suit and soon they were all firing at the thing, but all the bullets hitting her didn't even slow her down as she continued to focus on Ronan and chased him around the room. Even a bullet to the head only caused her to stagger a bit, but it didn't stop her. They lowered their weapons in shocked disbelief. They had never come across a zombie that didn't go down when it was shot in the head before.

"Fuck," Kenny said, at a loss.

"Well, what the hell are we going to do now?" Pete asked.

"Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast!" Ronan cried desperately as he continued to run around the room in a big circle. Whatever that thing was, it didn't seem to be interested in anyone else in the room.

"Maybe if we shoot it enough times in the head, it'll go down," Luke suggested. He stepped forward. "Ronan, get your gun ready and lead her past me."

Ronan glanced at him and nodded.

Luke stood in the middle of the room and waited anxiously for Ronan to pass him. Then, timing it just right, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight into the thing's temple and causing it to stagger sideways. At that point, Ronan stopped, spun around with his gun raised, and fired three times, hitting it right in the face. It collapsed to the ground like a ton of bricks. Breathing heavily, Ronan stood over the crumpled form on the ground, waiting to see if it would get back up.

"Is it dead?" Nick asked.

"Technically speaking, it was dead to begin with," Ronan commented. "But to answer your question, I'm not sure." He took a step closer to get a better look but stepped back again when its hand started to twitch. He couldn't believe his eyes when it slowly started to sit up.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! How the fuck do we kill this thing?" Kenny cried.

"There has to be a way," Lee said.

They all watched as the thing that used to be Lilly slowly pulled herself up and turned toward Luke. Luke took a step back, horrified at the blood-caked and horribly mangled visage staring back at him. Her face was so disfigured he could hardly discern any facial features at all except for the blood red eyes that almost blended in completely with the blood congealing on her face. For a moment, he was afraid she was going to come after him next, but she just turned away from him and looked right at Ronan.

"Oh, come on. Why is it only coming after me?" he griped as he took a few steps back. She screeched and sprinted towards him once again. "Fuck this," he said quietly, choosing to stand his ground rather than keep running. He swept her legs out from under her, knocking her on her back. He then stomped on her neck and pumped two more bullets into her forehead. Her body stilled, but he kept up the pressure on her neck with his foot. He looked up at the others, and he could already feel her starting to move again. "You have to go."

"What?" Lee said in disbelief, taking a step forward.

"You have to keep on going. You have to find the others before something like this happens to the them. I'll lead her away," Ronan said as he returned his gaze to the witch under his foot who was starting to reach up toward him. Not wanting to give her a chance to slash at him again, he removed his foot and stepped away, allowing her to get up.

"Wait a minute. We can't leave you like this," Luke said.

"I can take care of myself. Now go!" Ronan yelled as he turned and ran back the way they had come with the witch hot on his heels.

Luke started to go after him but stopped and turned back toward the others, looking unsure. "What do we do?"

"He told us to go on ahead, and I think that's what we should do," Pete said.

"I agree," Lee said. As much as it pained him to admit it, they had to go on, even if it meant leaving Ronan to deal with that thing that seemed impossible to kill by himself. "We have to get to Cassie, Clementine, and Deacon before they become something like that or worse. We don't have much time. We have to keep going."

"What about Ronan?" Luke asked.

"Like he said, he can take care of himself, and we have to trust that. He wanted us to go on, so that's what we're going to do."

Luke sighed and finally nodded. It didn't feel right not going to help Ronan, but they needed to get the others back. That was more important at the moment. They just had to trust that Ronan really could look after himself for the time being.

"Then let's get going. What the fuck are we standing around for?" Kenny said.

They continued on, hoping this would lead them to their lost friends.

* * *

Kyle and Reggie came upon an office door with the name Dr. Sanford Ellicott printed on it. Out sheer curiosity, Reggie pushed open the door. There was a large oak desk in the middle of the room, a bookshelf along the right wall filled with dusty old books and broken knick knacks, and metal file cabinets against the left wall with some of its drawers standing open. The drawers were filled with empty file folders as all of the files were strewn across the floor and the desktop. It was as if someone had gone through the file cabinets and just threw all the files around the room carelessly.

"Whoa, looks like a tornado blew through here," Reggie remarked.

"Yeah, looks like. Come on, let's go," Kyle urged.

"Oh c'mon. Aren't you the least bit curious?" Reggie inquired.

"We don't have time for this," Kyle replied and disappeared from the doorway, continuing down the hall.

Reggie frowned and shook her head, bending down to pick up a patient file. She started flipping through it curiously. Kyle, meanwhile, was walking down the hall in long strides. He stopped and smiled triumphantly when he came upon a door marked security.

"Yes, finally," he said.

Reggie poked her head out the door of Dr. Ellicott's office. "You found it?"

"Yeah, come on," Kyle replied and entered the security office. Reggie hurried after him, the patient file still clutched in her hand.

The security office was pretty small, consisting of only a bank of monitors, presumably for the cameras, and a computer with a small workspace. Kyle walked over to the bank of monitors and was dismayed to see that they were all blank.

"Well, it was a good idea in theory," Reggie said with a sigh.

"No, this can't be right," Kyle said with a shake of his head. "I saw several cameras on the way here, and they all had that red light on. Some of these monitors should be showing something."

"Maybe the monitors aren't working."

Kyle sighed in frustration and glanced at the computer. He grabbed the arm of the desk chair, plopped himself into it, and rolled himself up to the computer. He pressed a button on the keyboard, and the monitor came to life.

"Yes, the computer's working. Maybe I can get into the system and figure out what's wrong," Kyle said as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

Reggie leaned against the wall with a mental sigh. She knew this might take a while, but she also knew that Kyle would get it done. She had confidence in that. She's known him a long time, ever since college. In fact, they used to be college sweethearts, and one thing she had learned about Kyle was that once he set his mind on something there was no stopping him. He was like a dog with a bone. He would not let up until he completed what he set out to do. It used to dry her crazy whenever he got started on a new computer program because then he would work on it day and night, which hardly left any time for her. That was actually the main reason why it never worked out between the two of them, but they both decided that they would remain friends.

Reggie looked at the man in question and saw the determined look on his face. Oh yeah, he would get it done. It was just a question of how long. And what was she going to do in the meantime? She looked down at the file she still held in her hand. She hadn't even realized she still had it until now. She shrugged and flipped it open. It seemed to be the best way to pass the time.

"Let's see. Patient name," she started to read aloud. She knew that it wouldn't bother Kyle one bit. He always zoned out when he was working with computers. Nothing could distract him, and she just wanted to fill the room with something other than the clickety-clack of the keys on the keyboard. "Paul Hurlbutt. Now there's a name," she said with a laugh and kept reading. "'Patient diagnosed with schizophrenia, suffering from paranoid delusions leading to violent tendencies. Patient was reported to have brutally murdered his wife and two children, believing that they were demons out to get him.' Wow. This guy definitely had a screw loose. Guess that's why he was here, huh."

"Yes! I'm in!" Kyle said triumphantly. He turned toward Reggie. "Did you say something?"

"No," Reggie said with a shake of her head. "Just reading to myself. That was fast. So, what's going on?" She joined Kyle at the computer and looked at the screen. Of course, she had no idea what she was looking at. She wasn't really a computer person.

Kyle worked his way through the computer system and frowned. "It looks like everything has been rerouted to another part of the building, the camera feeds, the security system, the intercom, everything."

"Where is it being routed to?" Reggie asked.

"Looks like the med lab on the first floor."

"That's got to be where Kieran is. If he has control of the building from where he is, it could be a real problem for the others. Can you redirect everything back here?"

"I think so, but it's going to take some time," Kyle replied as he got to work.

"Great," Reggie said unenthusiastically. Maybe she would go back to Dr. Ellicott's office and grab another file.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Another Bloody Surprise

The group walked into the corridor beyond, which was completely identical to the one they just came from, and that made Lee nervous. That meant they were going to pass more cells, and who knew what other surprises Kieran might have locked up in those cells. As they made their way slowly down the corridor, Lee noticed that all the lights were off in all the cells. He thought that was odd because the lights had been on in all the cells previously. He didn't like the implications of that, but before he could voice his concerns, a gravelly voice called out to them from behind.

"Alright. Hold it right there."

The five of them spun around and raised their guns only to be met with four more guns aimed at them, wielded by four people Lee didn't recognize. There were three men and a woman. The woman was dressed in a drab, green coat with blue jeans and black army boots, and she had brown hair pulled into a tight bun. One of the men was dress in green army fatigues with short brown hair and a goatee. The second guy was dressed in a black t-shirt with a dark green hooded sweatshirt partially zipped, brown cargo pants, and tan hiking boots.

The third guy, who stood in the middle and seemed to be the leader, stepped forward. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to put a stop to this little escapade," he said. It was the same gravelly voice that had spoken before.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kenny asked.

"Carver," Luke said.

Lee glanced at Luke briefly. He remembered what they had told him about Carver, and if this was the guy, he knew they were in trouble.

Carver looked at Luke and smirked. "Hello, Luke. I really must commend you on that little stunt you pulled back at the cabin. You really did manage to catch me off guard. Oh, and Pete," he said as he turned his gaze to the older man. "I owe you for this." He held up his forearm, which was wrapped in a bandage. "Too bad you couldn't finish the job though. Now, put down your guns."

"Fuck that," Kenny scoffed. "I ain't giving up shit. In case, you haven't noticed, you're a little outnumbered here."

"Maybe," Carver said nonchalantly with a shrug. "But my people aren't afraid to kill and they aren't afraid to die. Can you say the same thing?"

Lee looked at Carver critically. He noticed the smug look on his face and at how relaxed his stance was. He was confident as hell like he didn't have a care in the world, and Lee knew that he was telling the truth. Lee glanced at his people briefly. He didn't want anyone to die, and he knew that if there was a firefight people on both sides would die. He didn't think Carver was the type to just shoot them dead for no reason. If he was, he would have done it when he first arrived instead of getting their attention. So, he decided the best way for everyone to get out of this situation alive was do what he said. For now. With a sigh, he lowered his weapon and dropped it on the floor

"Lee, what are you doing?" Kenny asked incredulously.

"Put your guns down," Lee said.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Lee's right," Luke said as he too dropped his gun on the floor. "He'll kill us if we don't."

Nick and Pete did the same, although Nick looked rather reluctant to do so. Kenny, however, refused to part with his weapon, keeping it firmly trained on Carver.

"C'mon, Ken. We need to settle this peaceably," Lee pleaded. "You start shooting and we'll all end up dead. Then, there will be no one to rescue Cassie and Clementine."

Kenny's grip tightened on the gun, his hands shaking with the effort. Then with a frustrated sigh, he dropped the gun on the floor.

Carver smiled as his eyes trained on Lee. "Very good. You're pretty smart, Lee, is it? I like that. Having a strong mind as well as a strong body helps you survive in this world. So, where's Rebecca?" When no one came forth with an answer, he shook his head and paced back and forth, a slight limp in his step. "You know, when I saw you entering that gun store with these people, I thought it was a stroke of luck, and I thought maybe you'll lead me to Rebecca. But then I saw the little incident back there, and I realized that Rebecca couldn't possibly be here. Now I don't know why you're here, and I don't much care. Just tell me where Rebecca is."

Again, none of them were inclined to answer, but before Carver could continue, a loud voice echoed from the intercom speaker on the wall.

 _"Well, well, well. It seems I have some unwanted guests in my house. I'm going to have to do something about that."_

Carver raised an eyebrow as he looked at the speaker in confusion. "What is going on? Who the hell is that?" he asked as he pointed his gun at Luke.

"That is Kieran," Luke replied. "He's even crazier than you are."

 _"Lee. Kenny. I am impressed you two survived. I would have thought my lovely creations would have torn you apart. And you all managed to escape my witch. Well, not all of you."_ He let out a short laugh. _"Your friend seems to be having some issues. I suspect he won't last long. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make sure you won't be able to escape this time."_

Suddenly, the doors at both ends of the corridor slammed shut and locked. They were trapped.

"What the hell?" Carver cried.

One of Carver's men ran to the door they had just come through and tried with all his might to open it, but it was sealed tight. Then, there was a mechanical buzzing sound as one by one each cell door was unlocked and opened electronically.

"Oh shit," Lee whispered. He knew what was coming. He had suspected as much when he saw that all the lights were off inside the cells. Then Kieran's words confirmed his suspicions.

 _"Let's see if my volatiles can do the job right this time."_

Then, the lights went out and they were all plunged into impenetrable darkness.

Lee immediately dropped to the ground and started fumbling for the zipper on the duffel bag he had dropped on the floor when Carver and his people came in. The air was filled with inhuman screams, cries of terror and pain, and gunshots. Then there was a sickening squelching sound followed by gurgling that made Lee wince as he finally managed to get the duffel bag open. He didn't want to think about what was going on around him as he searched blindly through the bag. _C'mon, where are they?_ He thought frantically.

"Anytime now, Lee!" Kenny yelled from somewhere to his right.

"Got it!" Lee cried as his questing fingers finally closed around the object he had been searching for. A flare. Pulling out the cylindrical object, he quickly pulled the top off and lit it. The area around him was immediately illuminated in a red glow, and he caught sight of a couple of volatiles scurrying back into the shadows. Breathing out a sigh, he lifted the flare, looked around, and gasped. "Shit."

Nick lay on the floor next to him a few feet away. His eyes were wide open and staring fixedly at the ceiling, and there was a gaping hole in his chest. Blood congealed in a large pool on the floor all around him. And just beyond Nick, Pete was sitting against the wall, blood pouring from a grizzly neck wound. His throat had been ripped out. It was a horrific sight, and Lee sat stunned for a moment.

"Oh my god," he whispered.

Lee was quickly brought out of his shocked stupor when he heard Luke cry out. Both Lee and Kenny jumped to their feet and turned around. Luke was lying on the ground with one of those creatures on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

"Luke!" Lee cried.

Acting quickly, he tossed the flare to Kenny, who promptly caught it with a nod of his head, and reached down into the duffle bag once more. He pulled out a shotgun, took careful aim, and pulled the trigger. The shot struck the volatile in the shoulder, spraying blood into the air. With an agitated scream, the volatile backed off, turning toward Lee. He shot again, and the thing's head exploded, spraying blood, bone and meat everywhere.

"God damn, Lee. You annihilated the fucker," Kenny said, impressed.

"Yeah," Lee said distractedly as he lowered the shotgun. "Luke, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Luke said with a gasp, bringing his hand to his bloody shoulder. "It clawed the heck out of my shoulder."

"Stay where you are," Lee ordered, and Luke nodded. He didn't feel much like moving anyway.

Lee set the shotgun on the floor and started digging through the duffel bag once again, pulling out several more flares. "Kenny," he said as he tossed a couple to the man. With a nod to each other, they both started lighting more flares and throwing them about the room, creating a safe zone in the middle of the corridor. Lee then picked up his shotgun and Kenny his handgun, and both stood ready to shoot the creatures that hid in the shadows that still lurked on either end of the corridor.

"What now?" Kenny asked.

"I'm not sure. I can't see them," Lee replied.

"Neither can I." Kenny lowered his gun in frustration. "Well, we better think of something fast. These flares ain't gonna stay lit for long."

"I know. I know," Lee said, thinking fast.

But before Lee could think of a plan, the lights suddenly came back on, temporarily blinding the three men. Lee blinked a few times as he saw several of the volatiles right in front of him and a couple more behind him.

"What the hell?" Kenny said, puzzled.

With a yelp, Luke got partially to his feet and scrambled backwards toward Lee and Kenny as the two men aimed their weapons at the creatures, but the volatiles weren't even interested in them as they screamed and writhed in agony. Their skin sizzled and bubbled as they moved backward in an effort to escape the bright light, but there was no place to go. Smoke billowed from the surface of their skin, and then they all burst into flames. The fire consumed them as they continued to scream and snarl until there was nothing left but gooey smoldering remains.

"Good god!" Luke exclaimed.

"Guess that's why they didn't like the light," Lee said.

Now that the lights were on, they could see that all of Carver's people were lying about in bloody messes. They were all dead, all except Carver himself, who was pushing the body of the woman off him and pushing himself up.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kenny said as he and Lee stepped forward and aimed their guns at him.

Carver slowly pulled himself to his feet. Holding a hand to the side of his neck, he turned toward them looking shell-shocked. Blood seeped between his fingers as his expression changed to anger.

"What just happened? What the hell was that?" he asked furiously.

"You just walked into a shit storm. You should have let those folks go when you had the chance," Kenny said.

Wincing, Carver pulled his hand away from his neck, and Lee caught sight of the wound on the side of his neck. "Christ, he's been bitten," Lee said.

"Well, ain't that interesting? What do you think happens when you get bit by one of those volatile things?" Kenny asked with a sidelong glance at Lee.

"I'm not sure. My guess would be that you turn into one of them."

His breath quickening, Carver dropped to his knees, his face scrunched in pain or terror, they couldn't really tell which. Then he fell forwards on his hands and let out a cry that turned into an inhuman scream, and right then, he definitely sounded like a volatile. But then he let out a grunt that was more human. Lee knew he was definitely changing and fast, and he stepped forward, aiming his shotgun to end it before he fully changed.

"Wait," Luke said, walking up next to Lee. "I'll do it. He's caused us enough trouble. It's time for me to end it."

Lee looked at Luke and nodded, handing over the shotgun. Luke took a step closer to Carver. Carver, in turn, glanced up at him and smirked. His face was already a shade of gray.

"That's very funny," Carver said. "You couldn't kill me back at the cabin, and unless you've grown a set of balls since the last time I saw you, I don't think you can do it now."

Luke's grip tightened on the shotgun. "You know, you're right. I couldn't kill the man, but I can kill the monster."

Carver's eyes narrowed before he dropped his head down. When he lifted his head back up, his eyes were bloodshot and there was a red line forming right down the middle of his jaw all the way down his neck. Then his jaw started to split in two right down that red line. Seeing this, Luke raised the shotgun and fired. Carver's head exploded.

With a deep breath, Luke turned around and gasped when he saw what had happened to Nick and Pete. "No. No, no, no," he breathed as he ran over to them and knelt down next to Nick, not caring as blood soaked through his pants. "Nick? Pete? Oh god no. I'm so sorry," he said as tears welled up in his eyes. He covered his face with his hands and turned to sit against the wall. "God dammit! GOD DAMMIT!" he wailed, slamming his fist down the floor.

Lee knelt down in front of Luke. "I'm so sorry, Luke," he said sympathetically. He glanced over at Nick's body. "Did you know each other long?"

"We've been friends since grade school," Luke replied, wiping tears from his eyes. "Twenty years. It wasn't supposed to end like this." He clenched his eyes closed tightly as more tears flowed down his cheeks.

Lee was about to say more when Nick suddenly sat up and reached for him. He fell backwards in surprise. Then a gunshot rang out and Nick fell back heavily with a thump, a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Lee breathed slowly, trying to get his racing heartbeat under control as he glanced back at Kenny who was standing a few feet away with his gun raised. Lee felt really stupid right then. The first thing they should have done was make sure they didn't turn.

Kenny lowered his gun. "Um, I'm just going to make sure the rest of them don't get back up," he said awkwardly, tucking the gun into his waistband and pulling out his knife.

"Thanks, Ken. I'll take care of Pete," Lee said.

"Yep," Kenny replied as he walked away.

Lee stood up and pulled out his own knife. With a moment's hesitation, he slipped the blade of the knife cleanly into Pete's skull. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luke turn his head away. Lee couldn't blame him. He didn't know how many times he had done this with other walkers, but it was different when it was someone you knew. With that done, he went and sat against the wall next to Luke. He thought maybe Luke could use the company or maybe a sounding board.

After a few moments, Luke finally spoke. "You know Pete was like a father to Nick. He watched out for both of us. He taught us to play cards. He taught us how to shoot. I guess he kind of took me in too when all this started because I didn't have a family anymore." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I never thought I'd lose them. As funny as that sounds with everyone dying left and right. I thought they'd be there forever. Or maybe I just hoped they would."

"Maybe you shouldn't have come," Lee said guiltily.

Luke shook his head. "No, we chose to come. All three of us. You have people who were in trouble. We wanted to help. I just…" He paused as he took in a shaky breath. "I didn't expect it to go down this way."

"Hell, man. I know how you feel," Lee said. "I lost pretty much everything the day this all started. My parents. My Brother. And Kenny lost his wife and son a couple of years back. You should be grateful you had them as long as you did."

"I know, and I am. Doesn't make it any easier."

"I know. Look, we need to keep going. You think you can do that?" Lee asked. He hated to rush the man after the loss he just suffered, but they had to get a move on if they had any hope of rescuing Cassie, Clementine, and Deacon.

"Yeah, uh, just give me a few minutes," Luke said.

With a nod, Lee got to his feet and joined Kenny at the other end of the corridor. Kenny had just finished making sure Carver's people didn't come back. He glanced over as Lee came up beside him.

"How's he doing?" Kenny asked as he wiped his knife off with a rag he kept for just that purpose.

Lee glanced back at the solemn man sitting against the wall. "He just lost his best friend of twenty years and a man who was like a second father to him. How do you think? He just needs some time."

"We don't have time. We need to get moving now," Kenny urged, walking past Lee. He wanted to check the door at the other end of the corridor, see if it was open.

"Just give him a few minutes. Besides, we need to figure out where we're going next," Lee insisted.

Kenny stopped and spun around. "What are you talking about? We keep going the way we've been going. We've got to be close to Cassie and Clementine. Why else would that shitbird be trying to stop us?"

"Come on, man. Think about it. Every door we came across was locked except for the one that led us here. He obviously has control over the doors. He led us here. This was a trap."

"So, then Cassie and Clementine could be anywhere in the god damn building, and that asshole ain't gonna let us anywhere near them," Kenny surmised.

"Exactly."

"FUCK!" Kenny screamed, throwing his hands in the air. "Now what the fuck are we supposed to do?"

 _"Hello? Guys? Can you hear me? Is this thing on?"_

Kenny and Lee looked up as another voice came over the loud speaker.

"Kyle?" Lee said.

 _"Oh good. Sorry. It took me a while to the get the intercom system working._ "

"You found the security office then," Lee said.

 _"Yeah. Everything seems to be working just fine."_

"So, you were the one who turned on the lights?" Lee asked. He thought that had been a bit odd. He didn't think Kieran would have done that, not after seeing what light does to his precious volatiles.

 _"Yeah."_ Kyle paused, sounding guilty. _"Sorry I couldn't get them on sooner. Kieran had everything rerouted to another part of the building. It took a while to override that."_

"Do you see Cassie and Clementine anywhere?" Kenny asked hopefully. He hated to admit it, but maybe it was a good idea for Kyle to go find the security office. Because they certainly hadn't made much progress, and if it hadn't been for Kyle, they'd all be dead now.

 _"Yeah. I'm looking at them right now. They're near the med lab."_ He rattled off a set of directions that would lead them straight to their missing friends. Then there was a pause, interspersed with a few clicks of a keyboard. _"There. I've opened all the doors in your path. You should have no problems getting to them."_

"Great! Thanks, man," Lee said gratefully. For the first time since they got there, he felt like they actually might have a chance of getting their people back alive. Then, he remembered they were still missing someone. "Oh, and Kyle. Do you see Ronan anywhere?"

* * *

Back in the security office, Kyle searched the security monitors. He finally found Ronan sprinting down a hallway.

"Yeah, there he is. Whoa, what is that?" he said when he saw what was chasing Ronan.

 _"That is what Kieran called a witch,"_ Lee explained. _"And I don't know how to kill the thing. We shot it multiple times, but it just wouldn't stay down. We even shot it in the head a few times. It just got back up. The thing is relentless, and it seems to be focused solely on Ronan."_

Kyle felt Reggie lean over his shoulder to have a look at the monitor as he watched the creepy woman with the stringy brown hair and the talon-like fingers chase Ronan with her arms out stretched toward him and Ronan trying desperately to keep ahead of her. "Alright. We'll figure something out. You just focus on finding the others."

 _"Yeah, alright."_

Reggie opened the duffel bag Kyle had brought with him and pulled out a shotgun. "I'll take care of it. Where is he at?" she asked as she walked over to a map of the hospital that was pinned to the wall.

Kyle looked back at the monitors. "He's in Ward C. He just passed room 307."

"Ok…" Reggie said thoughtfully as she traced her finger along the map, trying to figure out the best route. "Got it. You coming along?"

"No. I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on the monitors. Make sure Kieran doesn't take control again," Kyle replied. Nodding, Reggie headed for the door. "Hey, Reggie," he called. She stopped and looked at him questioningly. "Be careful."

She rocked back the slide on the shotgun and smiled. "Always am."

* * *

Ronan skidded around another corner, his feet almost sliding out from under him on the dusty floor. He didn't know how long he had been running or how many hallways he had run down. All he knew was that he had to keep going.

He thought of himself as being in pretty good shape. He had great endurance. As a police officer, he had had to run down a suspect many times, and he never really felt tired. Until now that is. He could feel his body starting to tire out, and that was not good because that thing was right on his ass. Every time he looked back he could swear that she was closer than the time before. He knew if he slowed down, he was dead. But he didn't really know what else to do.

His leg muscles were burning, begging him to stop, but he willed himself to keep going as he passed an opening to another hallway. He thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn't about to stop and see what it was. That is, until he heard the shotgun blast behind him. He skidded to a stop and turned around. The witch was lying on the ground, a splatter of blood the only thing left of her head.

"Fuck," he breathed, resting his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

Reggie stepped into the hallway holding a shotgun. She looked down at the witch. "Whoa."

"Reggie? Jeez, am I glad to see you," Ronan said breathlessly. He leaned back against the wall, took off his hat, and ran a hand through his sweaty hair.

"Hey Ronan. You ok?" Reggie inquired.

"Yeah. Just…tired."

"I'll bet."

Once he had his breathing under control, Ronan pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to where the witch's body lay. He looked down at the woman that had once been Lilly and sighed sadly. He had never really been a big fan of Lilly. Ever since she showed up she had always tried to control things, to make everyone do things her way. Except, of course, when Kyle called her on it. Then she would deny it, saying that she didn't want to be in control, but they all knew better. But, Ronan had to admit, she had helped them out. She had even saved Kyle's life the first time they had met her. That's how she had come to be a part of their group. And despite her actions the last time they saw her, she didn't deserve this.

"Ronan? What's wrong?" Reggie asked.

"That was Lilly," he replied, not taking his eyes off the body.

"What?" Reggie said in surprise. She took a step closer to get a better look at the body, but without a head, it was hard to tell who it had once been. "How…"

"I don't know. Kieran must have gotten ahold of her somehow after we…after she left the hotel," Ronan said. He was going to say after we kicked her out, but that just made him feel like it was their fault. And maybe it was even though he himself hadn't taken part in the decision. He had let the others decide her fate because he trusted that they would make the right choice. And they had. She had become a danger to them. She tried to kill Lee. They couldn't keep her around after that. What happened to her after that, they had no control over. But he still felt slightly guilty that it had happened.

"You know, she could be a real bitch sometimes," Reggie said, her voice solemn. "But she didn't deserve this."

"No," he sighed, placing his hat back on his head. "She didn't." He shook his head. "C'mon. We need to get back to the others."

"Wait," Reggie said, grabbing his arm as he started to walk away. "They're not there anymore. Kyle found out where Cassie and Clementine are. He sent them there. C'mon. I'll show you. If we hurry, we might be able to get there in time to help them out."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28 – Poetic Justice

Cassie winced as she worked feverishly to pull her hand through the leather strap that Deacon had managed to loosen before he was caught. She had been at this so long her wrist was raw and bleeding. She stopped to take a breath. Her wrist stung so bad it felt like a thousand needles jabbing her all at once, but she couldn't give up. She knew this could be her only chance to free herself and Clementine. They hadn't seen Kieran since he dragged Deacon away however long ago that was. It felt like ages, and she knew he could be back for them any second. She took a deep breath and tried once again to pull her hand free.

"Ah! God damn it!" she cried out involuntarily as she felt the burning pain shoot all the way up her arm and more blood start to coat her wrist and hand.

"Cassie! Are you alright?" Clementine asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah," Cassie stammered, breathing through the pain. "Except I think I'm pulling all the skin off my wrist." She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Maybe you should stop," Clementine said. She wanted to be free too but not if Cassie had to mutilate herself to do it.

"No. I can get it," Cassie said stubbornly. "I can get it."

Steeling herself for the pain to come, she pulled with all her might. This time she felt her hand start to slide through the strap, the blood acting as sort of a lubricant. Ignoring the agonizing pain, she gave her hand one more good yank, and it finally came free. She sighed in relief.

"Yes," she said triumphantly as she flexed her fingers, making sure she still hand range of motion in her hand.

"You did it!" Clementine cried happily.

Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to center herself. Her wrist throbbed painfully, but she ignored it as she sat up and went to work undoing the strap from her other wrist. Not wanting to see the damage done to her wrist, she concentrated on freeing herself. She would worry about that later when they were somewhere safer.

Once she was free, she hopped off the table and quickly went to work on Clementine's wrist. Just as she got the strap undone, she felt an arm snake around her neck from behind and pull her roughly backwards. She instinctively grabbed at the arm to keep from behind choked.

"Cassie!" Clementine cried.

Cassie felt Kieran's hot breath on her ear as he whispered, "You know, you people are becoming more trouble than you're worth."

"Then why don't you just let us go?" Cassie asked, but she knew deep down that wasn't going to happen. The man was too far gone to see reason.

"Oh, I don't think so. I've worked too hard for this. You girls are mine."

"I don't think so," a familiar voice said from behind.

Kieran whipped Cassie around so fast, she almost lost her footing, but he kept a tight hold on her, keeping her upright. Cassie almost smiled in relief when she saw Kenny, Lee, and surprisingly, Luke at the other end of the large room. All three men had their guns aimed at Kieran. Cassie immediately looked at Kenny. He looked about ready to tear Kieran apart, and she couldn't say she was surprised.

"Let her the fuck go, Kieran!" Kenny demanded.

"Kenny!" Cassie cried.

"Cass, it's going to ok," Kenny reassured.

"Oh, I don't think so," Kieran said, producing a knife from his jacket and putting the blade against Cassie's throat. "She is mine."

"Like hell she is. You hurt her and I swear I will kill you," Kenny threatened, his grip tightening on the gun in his hand.

Lee took a step forward. "Look, Kieran, there's no way out of this for you. Just let them go," he said calmly.

"No," Kieran replied with a shake of his head. "You see, I don't have anything to lose. You, on the other hand, have everything to lose." He put a bit more pressure on the blade at Cassie's neck for emphasis, eliciting a gasp from her. "Now, here's my proposal. You turn around and leave right now, and I won't kill you. You will never see me again."

Kenny pursed his lips. He could feel his blood beginning to boil. All he wanted to do was put a bullet in this guy's head and be done with it, but as long as he was holding Cassie hostage, he couldn't do anything. "That ain't gonna happen," he growled through gritted teeth.

"We're not leaving without them," Luke said. He couldn't believe this guy. Did he really think that they would just leave and let him turn the girls into monsters?

Lee shook his head. This guy was certifiably out of his mind if he thought they were just going to leave to save their own skins. But then, he supposed they already knew that from his behavior earlier. It wasn't really a surprise. But what could they do? Right now, Kieran was holding all the cards, and he knew it.

"Well then, we have a problem, don't we?" Kieran said.

All through this exchange, Cassie was trying to think of a way out of this. Then she saw Clementine moving around out of the corner of her eye. Cassie knew that she had gotten the strap undone on Clementine's wrist, which meant that Clementine was probably freeing herself now right behind them. And Kieran had no idea. Then Cassie got an idea, and she smiled faintly. Oh, this was going to be good. She locked eyes with Kenny, and her smile widened.

Kenny saw the look on Cassie's face and knew immediately that she had something up her sleeve. He gave a slight nod, indicating that he understood and he would be ready for whatever she had planned. He hoped it was something good because he had no ideas.

Cassie glanced discreetly behind her, and once she was sure Clementine was off the table and standing right behind Kieran, she made her move. She quickly grabbed the hand holding the knife and used her other arm to elbow Kieran in the stomach. With a grunt, Kieran let her go and doubled over. Cassie took a step to the side and kicked him in knee, causing his leg to buckle. He turned slightly and dropped to his knees, still doubled over from the pain in his stomach, which put him right at Clementine's level.

Seeing this, Clementine knew this was her chance, and she knew what she had to do. With Cassie's instructions and words of advice echoing in her head, she took a step forward and performed a perfect spin kick right to Kieran's temple. Kieran dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks, completely out cold.

Clementine stared down at Kieran in shocked amazement. "I did it," she whispered. She looked up at Cassie and smiled proudly. "I did it!"

"Hell yeah you did, Clem! That was so totally awesome!" Cassie exclaimed as she gave Clementine a double high five in celebration. "You see? I knew you could do it."

Lee lowered his gun and smiled in relief and pride. It was good to see Clementine so happy. It was rare nowadays. And he had to admit, she did really well taking Kieran out like that. He couldn't be prouder. She had come a long way since the day they first met. Tucking the gun into his waistband, he jogged across the room.

"Clementine," he called.

"Lee!" she cried happily as she launched herself into his arms. "Did you see what I did?"

"Yeah, sweet pea, I did. You did good," Lee praised. With a smile, he tapped the bridge of her hat, pushing it down slightly over her eyes.

"Hey! Don't mess with my hat," she said as she adjusted her hat back on her head, but she was still smiling.

Kenny too put his gun away, a smile spreading across his face. He felt so relieved to see Cassie alive and apparently still able to kick some ass. That was his girl, always kicking ass and taking names. He loved that about her. It made her able to take care of herself, which was a very good thing in this world, but it also made her more independent, which truthfully kind of got on Kenny's nerves at first. He always felt like he had to be in control, and he had hated it when people went against him. And one thing about Cassie was that she didn't like being controlled. If she didn't agree with what she was being told, she would go off and do her own thing. Used to drive Kenny crazy until he learned that being a couple was a two-way street. They both had to give and take, and they both had to trust in each other. No one person was supposed to be in control of the other. He had to trust that she could take of things, and sometimes she had to trust that he could take care of things. She had taught him that, and it hadn't been easy, he knew, with his stubborn bull-headedness. But he finally got the message, and he thought it made them a better couple.

Shaking away his thoughts, he made a beeline straight for his girlfriend. "Cassie!" he called.

Cassie turned around and smiled brightly. "Kenny!" she cried. She ran forward, meeting him halfway, and kissed him longingly. Kenny responded in kind as he wrapped his arms around her. Enjoying the warmth and the passion of her boyfriend, she wrapped her arms around his neck, forgetting about her raw wrist until she brushed her other hand against it. With a grunt, she let go of him and pulled back. "Ow, crap!"

"You ok?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah. I just rubbed my wrist raw getting out of those restraints," she replied as she tucked her wrist against her body.

"Let me see," Kenny said, reaching for the injured appendage.

"I'm fine, Kenny," Cassie said, pulling away from him.

"That don't look fine," Kenny argued.

"It looks worse than it is. Right now, we have bigger problems to deal with," she said emphatically.

Seeing that Kenny wasn't going to let it go, Lee decided to step in before there was an argument. "Hey, Cassie. How are you doing?"

Cassie looked at him and smiled gratefully. "Hey, Lee. I'm fine. Really," she replied, emphasizing the last word as she glanced back at Kenny.

Kenny shook his head. He knew that Cassie could be as stubborn as himself sometimes, and right now, he was just grateful to have her back. He'd argue later. So, he turned his attention to Clementine.

"Hey, darlin'. How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm ok, Kenny. That guy…" she paused, remembering the things that he said, the plans that he had for them. She shivered a little. "He was kind of…scary."

Kenny knelt down in front of her. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry you had to go through that. But hey, nice kick," he said, and she smiled.

Cassie smiled at the exchange, but it quickly turned into a frown when she noticed Luke standing apart from the rest of them looking despondent. "Hey Luke," she said, wondering what was up.

Luke looked up and managed a smile, but it seemed forced. "Hey. Glad you guys are alright."

"Thanks. Glad you came," Cassie replied.

"Yeah. No problem," he said quietly. He lowered his eyes and walked around them.

Cassie watched him walk away, her brow furrowed in concern. "Is he alright?" she asked.

Lee looked at Luke and sighed sadly. "I don't know," he replied. "Nick and Pete came with us, but we ran into more of those volatiles. They didn't make it."

"Oh man," Cassie said sadly, running her hand through her hair. "I've got to tell you. I didn't expect to see him here at all."

"Yeah, well, he helped us out earlier. It's a long story," Lee said.

"Which we'll explain later," Kenny interjected, putting his arm around Cassie's shoulders and starting to steer her toward the exit.

"Wait," Clementine spoke up as she looked around. "Where's Ronan? Is he ok?"

"Hey, did we miss the party?"

They all turned to see Ronan standing near the open door with his hands on his hips and small smile gracing his face. Reggie stepped up next to him, bringing up the shotgun she held in one hand to rest on her shoulder.

"Ronan!" Clementine cried happily as she raced to meet him.

Ronan's smile widened as he watched the young girl running toward him. He was glad to see that she was ok. He felt some of his guilt melt away as she smiled up at him. "Hey kid. You ok?"

"I'm alright. I was worried about you though. I felt bad leaving you back at the gun store," Clementine replied.

"Yeah? Well, I felt guilty about letting you go off only to get captured by Kieran."

"That's ok," Clementine said with a wave of her hand. "You couldn't have known that was going to happen."

"Well, it wasn't your fault I got stuck in that store. So, I'll tell you what. Let's just forget the whole thing and move on."

"Ok," Clementine said with a quick nod. "Oh, and here." She reached into her pocket and pulled out Ronan's badge. She handed it to him. "I kept it safe for you."

Ronan smiled coolly as he took it from her. "Thanks, kid. Knew I could count on you," he said as he walked past her. A smile brightened Clementine's face as she quickly ran after him. Ronan walked up to the others and, with his arms spread out, he asked, "So, is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, you?" Lee inquired.

"Oh, I'm fine. Thanks to Reggie," Ronan replied, looking back at the woman.

Reggie smiled as she hefted the shotgun in her hands. "What can I say? Figured the thing couldn't live if I blew its head off. Turns out I was right."

"Alright. Let's just get the hell out of here," Kenny said. He was anxious to get back so he could get Cassie's wound patched up. Her wrist had looked raw and angry, and he knew that it could get infected if not treated right away.

"Wait a minute," Reggie said. "Where's Deacon?"

Kenny gave an annoyed sigh and turned around reluctantly. Cassie met his anxious eyes. She knew all he wanted to do was get out of there, but she couldn't just leave without finding out what happened to Deacon. He had tried to save them. She owed him that at least. She turned around and pointed at a door marked Med Lab.

"Kieran dragged him through that door hours ago. We haven't seen him since," she explained.

They all looked at one another, and Cassie could see by the looks on their faces that they all knew the implications of her statement. She knew it too, and it saddened her.

"Alright. Let's go take a look," Lee said, leading the group toward the door.

"God dammit," Kenny swore under his breath, which didn't escape Cassie's attention.

As he was passing her, she grabbed his arm and gently turned him toward her. "Kenny, come on. I know you didn't like the guy. I didn't either at first. He was kind of an asshole."

"Kind of an asshole?"

"Ok, he was a huge asshole, but the point is, he tried to save us. If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have been able to get free. He was the one who loosened the strap on my wrist, and he got caught for it. We can't just leave him. Please."

Kenny sighed. "Yeah, alright," he said grudgingly. "Maybe we can find something to treat your wrist while we're at it."

As the group was heading toward the Med Lab, Luke paused and glanced down at Kieran still lying unconscious on the floor. "Uh, I'll stay here and keep an eye on him," he said.

Lee nodded and then led the rest of the group into the Med Lab. It was a fairly medium sized room with a metal hospital gurney occupying the middle of the room surrounded by medical tools and equipment, most of which didn't look like they had been used in years. The machinery especially looked dusty and grimy. Obviously, Kieran didn't feel the need to use them for his experiments. There was also a bunch of monitors stacked on top of each other haphazardly and ghetto-rigged together to form some sort of monitoring station.

They spread out throughout the room. Kenny immediately started opening cabinets along the left wall while Cassie stood behind him glancing around the room. She knew that this was the main reason he had even agreed to come in there with them, so she would let him look. She rather doubted he would find anything, but she wasn't going to stop him.

Lee and Clementine went to check out the monitors. He looked closely at the setup. He could see that all the monitors were hooked up to a central computer and realized Kieran must have put this together. This must have been where he had diverted the power and the cameras to. This actually looked like a brilliant setup and not easy to do. Guess Kieran wasn't stupid, just crazy.

Reggie walked around the room, looking curiously at all the medical tools. All the tools were aligned neatly in rows on metal trays. If it wasn't for all the dust, it would have been a pristine setup. She noticed absently that there was an empty space on one of the trays. Judging by the outline in the dust, it looked like a scalpel was missing. She shrugged to herself and kept going.

Ronan took a step into the room and looked at the entire room with an analytical eye. Deacon was nowhere to be seen yet Cassie had said that he had been brought in here and hadn't seen him since. There were no other exits to the room besides the door they had just come through, so where did he go? Puzzled, Ronan turned around and saw what looked like another cell door standing adjacent to the other door. Bingo! That had to be where Deacon was. He stepped up to the door and peered through the small window.

Just as he was doing that, Kieran suddenly came up behind him and wrapped a cord around his neck. Ronan let out a choked cry as he was pulled backwards by the neck, suddenly finding himself unable to breathe. Kieran then kicked the back of one of his legs, causing him to drop to one knee. Kieran loosened the cord enough so Ronan could breathe but kept it tight enough to keep him from moving. Using one hand to keep hold of the cord, Kieran then pulled a scalpel from his jacket pocket and put it to the side of Ronan's neck.

The room was suddenly filled with shouts of protest.

"No!"

"Ronan!"

"Let him go!"

"Ah, ah, ah," Kieran warned, "any of you make a move toward your weapons and I'll slice open his jugular. Just one nick and it's all over. It doesn't take much." None of them made a move, afraid he would carry out his threat. Kieran looked at Reggie. "You, put down the shotgun, very slowly."

Reggie slowly lowered herself and gently laid the shotgun on the ground, never taking her eyes off of Kieran.

"Alright. Just take it easy," Lee said calmly. "What is it that you want?"

Kieran gazed at Lee and smiled. "You know, we seem to keep ending up in this situation. How about I make it the last time? You didn't like my proposal earlier, so here's a new one. You can keep the woman." He glanced at Cassie. Kenny instinctively put his arm in front of Cassie protectively, which amused Kieran even more as he returned his gaze to Lee before his eyes slowly moved to Clementine. "But I want the girl. Give me her and the rest of you can go."

"Like hell," Lee growled. He wasn't going to let this guy have Clementine, not again.

Kieran smiled. "Well, I'll just kill him then," he said, pulling roughly on the cord around Ronan's neck, causing him to choke and gasp.

"No! Ronan!" Clementine cried. She tried to move forward to help him, but Lee put his arm in front of her to stop her.

"Stop this!" Reggie yelled desperately.

Ronan's eyes were squeezed shut as he coughed and wheezed. Barely any air was able to get by the constriction around his throat, but his windpipe wasn't completely closed yet. He was, however, completely immobilized. If he moved even an inch, it would pull at the cord and then his windpipe would be blocked. He was stuck. He squeezed eyes tighter in frustration. He hated feeling so useless and he hated being used against the others. What was even worse was that he knew it wasn't going to work. He knew they weren't going to give this guy Clementine, and he wouldn't want them to. Which meant there was a good chance he was going to die right here, right now.

With that realization, he opened his eyes and looked at all the faces around him. They were all filled with concern, fear, and uncertainty, and he tried to convey to each and every one of them with his eyes that it was ok, whatever happened, it was ok. Then Ronan looked at Lee, and he saw something in Lee's eyes that gave him hope. He saw determination, and perhaps the beginnings of a plan.

Lee was trying to figure a way out of this. He couldn't very well give Kieran Clementine, but he also couldn't let him kill Ronan either. As he was pondering this, he noticed that the cell door behind Kieran was slowly opening. He hadn't noticed that door when he first walked in, and he realized that had to be where Kieran had put Deacon. That was the only explanation, and if Kieran was able to finish his experiment on him, then Deacon might not be himself anymore. An idea started to form.

"You kill him, and we'll kill you," Kenny said.

Kieran glanced at him and shrugged. "Yeah, you probably will, but you see, I don't care. Like I said before, I don't have anything to lose. Now, I'm willing to bet that you're not willing to let him die. So, what's it going to be?"

Lee knew he had to distract him somehow. Kieran hadn't noticed yet that the door behind him was open. If Lee's hunch was right and Deacon was in there, and still himself, maybe he could get the drop on Kieran. If Deacon wasn't himself…well, maybe he would still get the drop on Kieran and hopefully not take Ronan with him.

Lee took a step forward. "Why do you want Clementine so bad?" he asked.

"Why?" Kieran repeated. "Because, like I said before, I have a specific experiment that requires a child, and since children are no longer a dime a dozen these days, I'm not about to let the one kid I've seen in years just walk away."

Suddenly, a long whip-like tongue wrapped itself around Kieran's throat and yanked him backwards with such veracity that he lost his grip on Ronan and the scalpel. He fell backwards and was dragged into the cell kicking and screaming. Ronan, now free, scrambled away from the cell, holding a hand to his throat and coughing while Cassie immediately jumped forward and slammed the door shut.

Taking the time to catch his breath, Ronan collapsed onto his butt and leaned back on his hands. He wasn't quite sure what just happened, and right now he didn't care as long as he was away from that lunatic.

"Ronan, are you alright?" Lee asked as he leaned down towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder while Clementine knelt down next to him.

He looked at them both and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm alright," he rasped, followed by a cough. "I'm just having a bad day it seems."

"Are you sure?" Clementine asked. She had really been scared for him, and she wanted to make sure that he really was ok.

Ronan's eyes met hers. "Yeah, kid. I'm good. It'll take more than that to get me down."

"What the hell was that?" Kenny asked.

Cassie rested her forehead against the door trying to ignore the screams coming from within. "It was Deacon."

"What?" Reggie said in disbelief. "How do you know?"

"Kieran made it a point to explain to us exactly what he was going to turn us into," Cassie explained as she turned around leaned back against the door. "He told Deacon that he was going to turn him into what he called a smoker. A creature with a wicked long tongue that could grab you from a distance and reel you in like a fish. Exactly like that." She looked back toward the door in time to see blood splatter across the small window. She turned away in disgust.

"Jesus. Poor Deacon," Reggie muttered.

"Well, I vote we get the hell out of here," Ronan suggested as he pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm with you on that one. C'mon, Cass. Let's get going," Kenny said. He put his arm around Cassie's shoulders and steered her toward the door leading out to the corridor.

Cassie willingly went along with her boyfriend, enjoying the feeling of his strong arm around her until she saw Luke lying face down on the ground. "Oh my god! Luke!" she cried as she ran to his side. She knelt down next to the prone man and placed a gentle hand on his back. "Luke? Luke, are you ok?"

Luke groaned and slowly pushed himself up onto his knees. "Oh man, my head," he moaned, putting a hand to the back of his head. Then, with a gasp, he whipped around to where Kieran had been lying, staring with wide eyes at the empty space. "Oh shit! Where is he?"

"It's ok, it's ok. He's dead," Cassie explained.

Luke sighed. "Oh man. I'm sorry. He got the drop on me. I should have been paying more attention."

"It's ok," Cassie repeated, trying to reassure the man. "It's over."

"Yeah, and the most important thing is that Cassie and Clementine are safe now," Lee said.

"And we don't gotta worry about that maniac ever again," Kenny added.

 _"Hey, are you guys ok?"_

Everyone nearly jumped out of their skins when Kyle's voice came over the intercom system.

"Kyle? Did you open that door?" Lee asked.

" _Yeah. I saw what was going down through the security cameras. It was the only thing I could think to do. Figured if I opened the door, it would go straight for Kieran."_

"Kyle, you are my hero," Reggie said, smiling.

 _"No problem. I'll meet you guys by the front door, ok?"_

"Kyle, wait," Cassie called as she stood up. "Can you open that cell door again?"

 _"Yeah. I can do that."_

"Good," she said as she turned and jogged back to the med lab.

"Whoa, wait. Cassie!" Kenny called, chasing after her with everyone else following curiously behind. He grabbed her by the arm just as she reached the cell door. "What are you doing?"

"We can't leave them like this. What if someone finds them?" Cassie said.

"So, what? The door's locked," Kenny argued.

"It's a power lock, Kenny. It'll only remain locked as long as the power is on, and that's not going to last forever. Sooner or later, the generator is going to run out, and then every door in this place is going to open. Besides," she paused as she glanced back at the closed door, "I can at least put Deacon out of his misery. I owe him that much."

Kenny shook his head. This was a dumb idea. That thing was safely contained. The best thing for them to do would be for them to get the hell out while they still could. But looking into Cassie's eyes, he could tell that she really needed to do this, and he loved her too much to deny her that.

"Please, Kenny," Clementine pleaded. "Deacon got caught because he was trying to rescue us. We can't leave him like that."

Kenny sighed. Now they were both gaining up on him. Those two girls were two of the most important people in his life. He could say no to one but not both. "God dammit. The things you make me do," he gripped as he pulled out his gun.

"You know you love it," Cassie said with a smirk.

"I love you. And that's the only reason I'm letting you do this," he replied, handing her the gun, handle first.

Cassie placed her hand on the gun and then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you too," she whispered. She turned toward the cell, gun in hand. "Ok, Kyle. Go ahead and open it."

 _"Uh, give me a minute. This stupid computer is lagging."_

Kenny went to join Lee and the others who were all crowding in the doorway. He leaned back against the doorframe next to Lee and crossed arms. "Man, what happened to me? I didn't always give in like this, did I?"

"Nope, but there were plenty of times when you should have," Lee replied. Kenny grunted in response. Lee placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You just fell in love with a woman who is just about as stubborn as you, maybe a bit more so. And she has a strong personality so she can take all your shit," he caught Kenny's side-long glare at that last part, but he continued on, "and still have enough strength to talk some sense into you when you need it."

Kenny didn't say anything, but he knew that Lee had a point. He did tend to shoot first ask questions later in a manner of speaking. He had always been like that, and it had gotten him into trouble more times than he could count. Maybe it was good that he had people like Cassie and Lee to talk some sense into him when he barreled into situations without thinking.

"Look, Ken, it's a good thing. I think she's had a positive influence on you. Don't you?" Lee asked.

Kenny's gaze locked on Cassie and he smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess so."

 _"Ok, I got it."_

With those words, the cell door clicked open. Cassie slowly reached forward and pushed the door all the way open. It was a grisly sight inside the cell. The walls and floor were splattered with blood. Kieran lay on the floor with his chest ripped wide open, and Deacon, or rather the smoker, was kneeling next to him digging around inside and pulling out bloody entrails. The smoker itself was a hideous sight as well. It had a long, circular tongue that hung down to its waist, and there were boils and pustules all along its arms and face. Some of the boils on its face were so big that it made half its face look bigger than the other half. Cassie put a hand over her mouth to keep from gagging. She had seen a lot of gruesome things the last few years, but this was one of the worst.

Cassie pulled herself together and raised the gun, aiming it at the side of the smoker's head. She said a silent apology to Deacon and then pulled the trigger. As soon as the bullet pierced the smoker's head, the whole thing exploded, releasing a noxious green smoke into the air like a smoke bomb. Cassie stumbled backward coughing as the putrid stench filled her nose and mouth. The others quickly backed out of the room into the cleaner smelling air of the corridor, all of them hacking and coughing, and Cassie scrambled after them.

"Oh man. What was that?" Luke asked in between coughs.

"It smelled awful! I think I'm going to puke!" Clementine exclaimed.

"Yeah, me too," Reggie coughed.

"Well, I guess that's why he called it a smoker," Cassie rasped.

At that moment, the power went out and everything was plunged into darkness. The only light came from sunlight streaming through the mesh wiring in the windows.

"Damn. Generator must have run out," Cassie said.

"Alright. That's it. _~cough~ ~cough~_ I've had enough of this place," Kenny said.

"I agree. Let's go," Lee said.

"Wait, I still need to take care of Kieran," Cassie protested.

"Fuck that. We need to leave right now," Kenny argued.

"But…"

"Kenny's right," Lee interjected, turning toward Cassie. "You said it yourself, all the doors have power locks. Now that the power is out, every door in this place is now open. Who knows how many more special infected Kieran had locked up in this place. We need to get out."

Cassie sighed in resignation. "You're right. If we leave now and lock the door behind us, it should keep whatever special infected is still roaming around from getting out. Let's go."

After meeting Kyle at the front entrance, they left the asylum and the horrors which it contained behind. But the events that unfolded and the things they had witnessed would stay with them for years to come.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 – The Last Good-Bye

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Lee asked as he stuffed food, ammo, and other essential supplies into a backpack.

After staying at the hotel for a couple days to recuperate, Lee, Kenny, Cassie, and Clementine decided it was time to move on. As safe as the hotel seemed to be, the city itself was much too dangerous. There were still a lot of hunters roaming around, which made scavenging for supplies risky. Lee and Kenny felt it wasn't worth it to stick around and the girls agreed.

Luke and his group had also decided to leave. They wanted to get back to the community they had left behind. With Carver gone, they felt it was the best option for them. Carlos didn't want Sarah exposed to how the world is any more than she already has. Rebecca was close to giving birth, and both she and Alvin wanted to make sure she had her baby in a reasonably safe place. And Luke wanted a safe and familiar place to settle for a while so he could take the time to grieve for his lost friends properly, and he also wanted to implement some changes, make things better there.

Kyle, who had decided to stay at the hotel along with Reggie and John, shook his head in answer to Lee's question. "No, I think we need to see the hotel run its course. There's still plenty of supplies stocked up here so we won't need to go out scavenging for a while. Should be safe for now."

"Yeah, we'll probably leave once the food runs out though," Reggie commented.

"No, not completely. Just enough to take with us," Kyle corrected.

"Well, when you do decide to leave, head north, find a place called Wellington. That's where we're heading," Lee suggested.

"We'll remember that," Kyle said.

"Thanks for everything," Lee said, offering his hand, which Kyle shook with a nod. "Do you think Max will be ok out there?" he asked after a moment.

When they had returned to the hotel, they had found out that Max had up and left without saying a word to anybody. The others hadn't even noticed he was gone until Lee asked about him upon their return. They hadn't seen him since.

"I don't know. It seems to me like he wasn't altogether there the last time we saw him," Kyle replied, crossing his arms.

"Well, think about it," Reggie said. "He spent the first few years cooped up in that lab, and then his best friend and lab partner went crazy and started creating his own brand of walking dead. Then he got kicked out of the only place he could call home and forced to fend for himself. And he couldn't do a thing to stop it. I'd be a little out of it too."

"Yeah, I guess. I still can't believe he just walked out without saying anything," Kyle said.

"Some people handle certain situations differently than others," Lee reasoned. "Hopefully he'll get through it."

"Hey, we about ready?" Ronan asked as he joined them with a backpack of his own. To everyone's surprise, Ronan had decided he was going to leave with Lee, Kenny, Cassie, and Clementine.

"Almost," Lee replied. He noticed the looks that were being passed between Kyle and Ronan, and he sensed that they needed to talk privately. "I'll give you guys a moment," he said and excused himself.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kyle asked.

Ronan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No, but I think I need to. Now is as good a time as any," he replied with a glance back at Lee, Kenny, and Clementine conversing by the front door.

Kyle followed his gaze. "You've been planning this a while, haven't you?"

"No, not planning. Thinking." Ronan's brown eyes locked onto Kyle who turned his head slightly to meet his gaze. "Look, don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to you. I consider you a good friend, make no mistake about that, but ever since Rex…" He paused, pain and loss shining in his eyes. "I don't take loss well, and I feel like I've been going crazy being cooped up here. When my wife died, I buried myself in my work. When I was chasing down a suspect, it was like I could forget what had happened, at least for a little while. I can't just sit here anymore. I just can't. I know it's dangerous out there, but that's never stopped me before."

Kyle nodded. He remembered the day they lost Ronan's brother-in-law, Rex. He knew that Ronan had taken the loss hard, but he had no idea that he was thinking about leaving. "I understand. Why didn't you say anything?"

"When we found this place, you guys were so excited about it. I didn't want to ruin it for you. Truthfully, I would have left sooner, but I didn't trust Lilly. And I didn't want to leave you guys."

Kyle felt a pang of guilt at the mention of Lilly. "Yeah, I guess you were right about her. She had some issues. Still, it's a shame what happened to her. I can't help thinking that it wouldn't have happened if we hadn't kicked her out."

Ronan shook his head. "Don't go there. We did the right thing. She lost control, and she had become a danger to the group when she tried to kill Lee. We had no choice but to kick her out. Whatever happened afterward wasn't our fault. She made her choices, and we made ours."

"Yeah, guess you're right. And if you need to leave, well, I'm not going to stand in your way. Do what you have to do."

Ronan patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks, man. And hey, maybe we'll see each other again."

"I hope so," Kyle said with a smile.

Behind the front desk, Luke and Carlos were packing a few supplies into a duffel bag.

"Alright. We ready to go?" Carlos asked as he zipped the bag closed.

"Yeah, I think so," Luke replied.

"I'll go get everyone else then."

Luke watched him walked away. When he was gone, he sighed, leaned his elbows on the desk, and cupped his head in his hands.

"Are you ok?"

He looked up to see Cassie standing next to him. He stood up straight and quickly tried to compose himself. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

"Really?" she said in disbelief.

Luke's shoulders slumped. "It's just…it's going to be hard without Nick and Pete. I've been with them since the beginning."

"Yeah, I get that," she said sympathetically. She leaned back against the desk. "I'm sorry about what happened to them."

Luke shook his head. "It's not your fault."

"So," Cassie said after a moment of silence, "you sure you want to go back to that community, what was it called, Howe's? Doesn't Carver still have people there?"

"Yeah, but there are good people there too, and they need help. With Carver gone, maybe we can start finally doing things right."

"Well, good luck with that then," Cassie said with an encouraging smile.

Luke returned the smile timidly. "Thanks."

When everyone was ready to leave and they had all said their good-byes, the group left the hotel behind. They traveled together for a couple blocks or so before they decided it was time to part company. As Luke and his friends were walking away, Lee called out to them.

"Hey Luke. I hope everything works out for you guys."

Luke smiled. "Thanks."

"We hope it works out for you too," Carlos called out. Rebecca and Alvin nodded in agreement.

"And if you ever decide you need someplace to settle down, look for Howe's Hardware. It's just a few miles west of here," Luke said.

"We'll keep that in mind," Lee replied.

With a last wave of good-bye, they were gone. Lee looked at his friends and then beckoned them to follow him.

"So, where to now?" Ronan asked as they walked down the deserted street.

"We've been heading north looking for Wellington. Figured we should keep heading north until we reach Michigan, see if it's really there," Lee replied.

"Sounds good to me, but are we really going to walk all that way?" Ronan asked.

"What do you suggest?" Lee inquired.

"We could drive," Ronan suggested with a smirk as he stopped next to a black SUV that looked to be in reasonably good condition.

"That sounds like a great idea," Clementine piped up. She was definitely tired of walking everywhere.

"I think I like that idea," Kenny said. He approached the car and pulled the driver's side door open. He climbed in and checked the ignition, hoping that the keys had been left there, but they weren't. Next, he pulled down the visor but again came up empty. He didn't even know why he checked there. Who in their right mind would leave their keys in the overhead visor? Shaking his head, he looked at Lee. "Hey, Lee, you know how to hotwire a car?"

Lee looked at him in disbelief. "What? No! Now why would you ask me that?"

"Uh…"

Lee shook his head. "It wouldn't happen to be the same reason you asked me if I knew how to pick a lock, would it?" he asked, remembering back at the dairy farm when they were trying to figure out how to get the padlock off the mysterious door in the barn without breaking it.

"Well…" Kenny started, looking sheepish.

"Kenny, you'd think you'd know me better by now," Lee said with an amused expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, pal," Kenny said, scratching the back of his head. "I know I should. It's just…"

"I know, crazy shit comes out of your mouth sometimes," Lee interrupted with a negligent wave of his hand, indicating that it was no big deal.

"Don't worry about it. I got this," Ronan said with a chuckle. After waiting for Kenny to move, he took his place in the driver's seat.

"You know how to hotwire a car?" Cassie asked curiously.

"I used to be a thief, remember?" Ronan said with a sly smile as he pulled out his knife and used it to pry open a panel next to the steering column. "I've got a tattoo on my upper right arm that signifies the first time I stole a car." With one good push, the panel came off, exposing a jumble of wires.

"Well, aren't you handy to have around?" Cassie said, impressed.

"Humpf. Yeah," Kenny grunted, crossing arms across his chest.

Cassie looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Kenny had never shown any hostility towards Ronan before. Then she realized what his problem was. "Aw, Kenny, don't be jealous," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I ain't jealous," Kenny denied, turning his head away.

Cassie smiled and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to turn his head to look at her. "You have nothing to worry about. I will love you always and forever," she said tenderly.

Kenny's mouth slowly formed into a smile as his arms snaked around her waist and pulled her in close. "Now that's what I like to hear," he said before giving her a deep kiss.

"They always like that?" Ronan asked.

"Pretty much," Clementine replied as she stepped up next to him. "It's kind of nice."

"Yeah. It is," he said as he turned back to the task at hand. Clementine watched curiously over his shoulder as he cut several wires and then stripped the cover off the ends. He twisted the exposed ends of two of the wires together, then touched the other two wires together several times until the engine started, and then twisted those two wires together as well. "There. Simple."

"Cool. Can I try that next time?" Clementine asked.

"Sure, kid," Ronan said. "It's probably something everyone should know how to do now."

"Alright. Out of the way. I'm driving," Kenny said with a flick of his thumb. Ronan obligingly got out of the car while Kenny took his place behind the wheel.

They all piled into the SUV and drove away, leaving the city behind and heading into their next adventure. They didn't know if Wellington was really out there, but they would find out. And if it wasn't real, then it didn't matter. They would just keep going like they always did. As long as they had each other, they could face anything.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 – Epilogue

Several days later found the group in the middle of another wooded area. The black SUV drove up a snowy incline, the car rocking up and down over the rough terrain. The occupants of said vehicle braced themselves any way they could as the driver navigated the treacherous road, which really wasn't a road at all, more of a clearing in the woods covered in a layer of snow.

Kenny gripped the steering wheel tight as the SUV bounced over yet another hard mound under the snow. He thanked god that they had taken a car that had four-wheel drive. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made it as far as they did. He just hoped the rumors were true, and Wellington really was somewhere out in the middle of this godforsaken forest. Otherwise, they just wasted time and gas coming out this way.

The car finally crested the top of the hill, and they all breathed a sigh of relief, which was quickly replaced by amazement. Stretching across the expanse in front of them was a huge metal wall with a set of metal doors right in the middle that looked like they had come off the back of a shipping container. The word "Wellington" was spelled out across those doors, confirming the rumors to be true. Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky from behind the wall.

Kenny stopped the car and just stared for a moment. "I can't believe it. We made it," he said, mystified.

Clementine scooted forward from in between Lee and Ronan in the backseat and peered between the front seats. "It's about time," she remarked. It seemed like forever that they had been searching for this place.

"You said it, kid," Ronan said. He had almost forgotten how hard it was being on the road.

"Kenny, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical that this place actually existed," Cassie said, as she gazed out the windshield at the place she thought to be only a dream or a story. "If it hadn't been for your determination and firm belief that it was real, we might not have made it here." She looked over at her boyfriend with a smile. "Thanks for that."

Kenny returned her smile as he brought one of her hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. "Ain't nothing gonna stop us now," he said with conviction.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go see if they have any vacancies," Lee said. He was glad to see that Wellington was real. Kenny had believed in this place so much, Lee had been afraid how he might have reacted if it was discovered that the whole thing was just a lie.

"You got it, pal," Kenny replied as he took his foot off the brake and eased the SUV forward.

The car hadn't gone more than five feet, however, before there was the loud crack of a gunshot, followed by a ping as the bullet dinged off the metal frame of the vehicle. It wasn't enough to do any real damage. It was just meant as a warning. And Kenny took that warning to heart as he immediately brought the car to a stop and put it in park. Seconds later, a voce called out to them.

"That's far enough. Get out of the vehicle."

The group traded glances. "What do you think?" Kenny asked, looking back at Lee.

"I think we should do as we're told. They're just being cautious," Lee replied confidently. They each nodded in agreement and climbed out the SUV, throwing up their hands as sign that they meant no harm.

"Leave your weapons in the car," the voice ordered. After their weapons were deposited inside the car, the voice continued. "Approach the gate."

As they neared the front gate, a dark-skinned woman appeared on some sort of a lookout point above the gate. She was talking into a handheld radio. "Just a few folks at the front gate. They don't look like too much trouble." She lowered the radio and turned to greet them. "Hey there. Name's Edith."

"So, uh, this is Wellington," Kenny ventured after the introductions were made.

"A lot of people call it that," Edith replied.

"Alright. How do we get in?"

Edith paused as she carefully surveyed each and every one of them. "Hmm. We're always on the lookout for able-bodied people to lend a hand when it's required."

"We'd be happy to help out in any way we can," Lee offered, hoping that letting her know that they can pull their own weight would convince her to let them stay.

"Glad to hear it. Lucky for you we just started accepting new members," she said with a warm smile. Her smile slowly turned into a frown as she continued. "However, it's not up to me who can stay and who can't. I can put in a good word for you since you seem like nice people, and you look like you have a lot to offer. But ultimately it's up to Crane. First and foremost, if you're going to be staying here, all of you need to be checked for bites. You can never be too careful." She started talking into the radio once more. "Jake, come in. Open the gate. We've got newcomers inbound."

A young guy's voice came through the static. "Ooh, sweet. Any cute girls?"

Edith rolled her eyes and glanced at Cassie. Kenny, upon hearing those words, took Cassie's hand in his, almost as if he was quietly staking a claim on her or something. Cassie just snickered. She found the whole situation amusing.

"Jake, grow up," Edith replied.

"Should I take that as a no?"

"None that are available. Just open the gate."

"Bummer."

Edith shook her in head in exasperation as she disappeared from view. A second later, the gates opened, and for the tired survivors waiting in anticipation, it was almost like fulfilling a lifelong dream. To potentially have a place to finally call home, it was worth all the hardships they had endured just to get here. Lee stepped forward. He had always thought that places like this were almost as dangerous as being on the road because they were just targets for unsavory characters like the bandits they had encountered back at the motor inn. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that having a place to stay and people you can trust could make it worthwhile. So, with once last glance at his companions, he entered Wellington.

They were met at the gate by Edith who indicated that they should follow her. Getting their first look at the inside, they discovered what once had been a summer camp. There were several cabins that littered the area, and way back behind them was a large building which probably served as the mess hall, and there was another large building to the right of that one. There was what looked like some sort of a workshop to the left of the gate where several cars were parked, and there was a garden to the right that looked like it was producing some plentiful crops. There was also an archery range that was now being used for target practice with everything from crossbows to rifles. It definitely looked like they had a good thing going.

"Wow, this is…not what I was expecting," Cassie said as they walked.

"What were you expecting?" Edith asked with a backwards glance.

Cassie shrugged. "I don't know. Judging by the wall and the front gates, maybe something a little more…industrial. You know, like a factory or something."

"We actually got the front gates off the back of a shipping container for a company called Wellington Inc. It was some kind of metalworks company. It's also where we got all the scrap metal we used to build the wall. Since our front gates said Wellington on them, people started calling our community that. We just went with it."

"Makes sense," Ronan remarked.

They passed by a campfire where a group of people, namely kids, were gathered around it, some sitting on lawn chairs and others sitting on logs. They were roasting marshmallows, talking, and having a good time. Clementine stopped and watched as the kids laughed and ate their gooey marshmallows. She had always wanted to try toasting marshmallows over an open flame. She had seen people do it on TV plenty of times.

"Oh, man. It's been so long since I've roasted a marshmallow," Cassie said, stopping next to Clementine.

"Me too," Lee said. "I used to love eating s'mores in the summertime."

"I've never had s'mores," Clementine said.

"Well, we'll have to rectify that, won't we? If we get the chance," Cassie said with a smile, putting her around Clementine and steering her away as they continued on. They came upon a canopy with lounge chairs and a table sitting underneath. A man in his early thirties with brown hair was leaning over the table. He glanced up as they approached.

"Hey Edith. Bringing in some new blood?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm taking them to see Crane now."

The man nodded as his eyes swept across the group assembled in front of him. His gaze paused on Ronan. "You. What's your name?"

"Ronan," he replied, a bit confused as to why this guy was singling him out.

"Ronan what?"

"O'Conner."

"Nice to meet you, Ronan O'Conner. Name's Jack Jericho. How's about you help me out with something?"

"Uh…" Ronan uttered, unsure how to respond to this man's forwardness.

"Jack, he hasn't been cleared," Edith scolded.

"Oh, c'mon. You know as well as I do that if they make past that gate, Crane is not going to turn them away," Jack said confidently. He pointed at Ronan. "You, come here. And don't worry, I will clear him," he said to Edith before she could say another word.

Edith snapped her mouth shut and turned away in a huff, muttering under her breath. Lee and the others hesitated, looking at Ronan questioningly. "You going to be ok?" Lee asked.

Ronan glanced at Jack and nodded. "Yeah, I think I can handle it if things go south."

"Oh, can you now?" Jack said. He chuckled. "I think I'm going to like you, O'Conner."

Ronan smirked. "Oh yeah? Well, I'm still up in the air about you, Jericho."

"Just shut up and get over here," Jack said good-naturedly.

Ronan joined Jack at the table while the others hurried to catch up with Edith. Ronan looked at the paper that Jack had been studying when they walked up. It looked like a layout of the community.

"Alright. I just got word that there might be a breach in the south wall. Feel like checking it out with me?" Jack asked, indicating on the map where they needed to go.

"Uh, sure, but don't you have your own people to do this?" Ronan asked, still confused why Jack would ask a complete stranger to help him with this.

"Yes, but you're here now. They aren't." Seeing the confusion on Ronan's face, he continued. "You're wondering why I'm asking you to do this. It's simple. I always like to get first dibs on former law enforcement and military types. I'm in charge of security around here, so they're a big help. You were, what, a detective I'm guessing?"

Ronan blinked, stunned. All he had ever heard ever since he joined the police force was that he didn't look like the cop type. One police officer in particular used to badger him every chance he could, saying that he didn't fit in with the boys in blue. So, he was surprised that Jack had him pegged so easily. "How did you…"

"Don't look so surprised. I can always spot a fellow police officer. It's a gift," Jack said as he picked up a machete that had been on the ground leaning against one of the chairs. "I bet you thought you didn't have the cop vibe as I like to call it." He dug around in a backpack hanging nearby and pulled out a knife. He stepped up to Ronan. "Every person who's ever been in law enforcement has it, tattoos or not. Now how about we go check out that breach?" he asked as he offered Ronan the knife.

Ronan accepted the knife with a nod and smile. "You know, I think I'm going to like you, Jericho," he commented as they walked away.

Edith led Lee, Kenny, Cassie, and Clementine into the mess hall. The large room was filled with long tables. There were several groups of people sitting at different tables. Some were eating, others were just conversing. At the head table at the front of room an older man, whom they assumed to be Crane, stood talking on a radio. He was in his forties or fifties with salt and pepper hair and a gray mustache.

"…and it looks like there might be a nice size stash of ammo," crackled a voice over the radio.

"Alright. Check it out, but be careful. I would prefer you came back empty-handed than not come back at all," Crane replied. He placed the radio on the table and turned to greet them. "Ah, Edith, who have you brought me this time?"

"Crane, this is Lee, Kenny, Cassie, and Clementine. They wish to join us."

"Do they now?" He stepped forward and scrutinized each of them carefully. "Hmm. Well, you certainly look like a capable bunch. Tell me, what do you have to offer our community?"

Lee stepped forward and cleared his throat before speaking. "Uh, well, we'd all be willing to help out in any way that we can. Kenny and I used to do all the scavenging runs for our old group, if you need anyone scavenge for you. Cassie is versatile in knife fighting and hand-to-hand combat. She could probably teach those techniques to anyone willing to learn. And our friend, Ronan…"

"Ronan? There's another one of you? Where is he?" Crane asked, looking directly at Edith.

"Jack drafted him into helping him with something," Edith replied, clearly still annoyed.

Crane, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered. "Ah, he must have been a former police officer. Jack always likes to recruit them first. He's head of security and he figures guys such as himself and your friend are best suited for the job."

"Don't it bother you that he just takes the people that he wants before you get a chance to check them out?" Kenny asked.

"Oh no. He knows what he's doing and he knows how to pick out police officers. I trust his instincts, and I agree with his methods. He has my full support in such matters. Besides, I probably would have let you all stay regardless of what you said to me just now."

"Then, what's with the Q&A?" Cassie inquired.

"I always like to get to know the people joining us," Crane answered. "Besides, Edith screens everyone who shows up here. If you had any ill-intent, you wouldn't have made through the front gates. I trust my people, ladies and gentlemen. And I hope, in time, you'll be able to trust us. Welcome to Wellington."

The End

 **Author's Note: Well, there you have it. Finally reached the end. I hope you've all enjoyed the story. I know some may not like the end where everything works out, for the most part anyway, but that's something that you don't get very often in the game. So, I thought for a little change of pace, I'd give you a somewhat happy ending. However, I have been thinking of a sequel, so who knows. Thank you all very reading.**


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